#Eli making Nozomi’s birthday be special

[mitaharukai]

Title: A special birthday

Ship: Nozomi x Eli (Love Live)

Summary: Ever since she was a kid, Nozomi remembers how, what was special to everybody, was just like any other day to her. But Eli will change that and make her feel that both her birthday and she are special.

Words: 1.8k

Sneak peek: "- But why three gifts?

- Because those are the years I missed your birthday since we know one another. And if you leave me, I plan to make every single one of your birthdays special so you don’t ever feel it being just like any other day.

Eli says determined, making Nozomi blush harder as she hugs the blonde to hide it from her.

- Elichi, idiot.

She mumbles, hearing Eli’s chest rumbling with laugh as she hugs her tighter, making her birthday indeed special as she just promised her.

They stay like that for some time, hugging tightly, before Nozomi talks against the blonde’s chest.

- Stay the night? – she asks timidly as they look at the rain still pouring hard from the crystal door of the balcony."

[whoneedsapublisher]

Miso Soup (Or Equivalent)

Femslash February day 24 "Cooking"

Words: ~500

Summary: Nozomi makes breakfast for once. After all, it's a special occasion.

Also on Ao3

**********************

Nozomi woke up early on Nico’s birthday. Careful not the wake the birthday girl herself, slowly slid out of the bed they shared and tiptoed to the door. Checking one last time that Nico was still asleep, she carefully closed the door and crept down the stairs to the kitchen.

The kitchen was, to be frank, usually Nico’s domain. There was an old way of proposing marriage that Nozomi had always thought was cute- “I want to eat your miso soup every morning.” And the fact of the matter was, most morning Nozomi was the one eating Nico’s food first thing in the morning, although it wasn’t always miso soup.

Today, though, that was going to be different. Nozomi had been practising in secret for weeks, enlisting the help of Eli’s grandmother and Nico’s mother. Between the two of them, they’d devised a birthday meal plan that was both foods that Nico should like and should include a few things that Nico didn’t make herself.

Still, even though she’d made this dish over and over, she was still nervous as she started getting the ingredients out of the dishes she’d hidden in the back of the fridge. Nico would appreciate the effort even if she screwed up, but she really wanted to treat Nico to something nice this year.

Despite her worries, though, things went just as she practised. Just as Nozomi finished and turned off the heat, Nico wandered into the kitchen, yawning and looking curiously over at Nozomi.

“Happy birthday, Niccochi!” Nozomi said, smiling widely.

“Thanks…” Nico mumbled sleepily. “What’s going on? Did you cook?”

“I did,” Nozomi said. “Here, have a taste.”

Dipping a spoon into the pan, Nozomi fished out a bite of the egg and pasta dish she’d made, making sure to also include a little ham, and offered it to Nico. Nico carefully took and chewed pensively for a minute, her eyes widening. “What is this?” she asked. “It’s good.”

“It’s a recipe from Eli’s grandmother,” Nozomi said. “For your birthday, I thought I’d cook all your meals for the day.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Nico said.

“But I want to,” Nozomi said. “You cook for me all the time, Niccochi. I want to show you my gratitude. And how important you are to me.”

Nico looked conflicted, her pride in being the chef of the house fighting with her stomach and her curiosity. Finally, when Nozomi held up another spoonful, the latter won out.

“Alright,” Nico said, taking the second bite. “If you insist.”

“I do,” Nozomi said.

Nozomi loved that Nico cooked for her. She loved having a talented chef as a wife, and, truth be told, she didn’t mind not cooking most of the time. But seeing Nico eagerly awaiting the plate of food that Nozomi served her and then watching her happily eat it, Nozomi had to admit that she was starting to understand the joy of cooking for a loved one.

But after today, she’d leave it to the experts.

[ryqoshay]

How to Handle a Nico: Pomme d’Maki

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~2.4k Rating: K with just a hint of T Time Frame: Late during Maki’s 2nd year and Nico’s 4th year in college. Story Arc: Stand Alone

Author’s Note: I’m late for my timezone, but it’s still the 14th somewhere in the world! So... yay? Happy Velentine’s Day!

“Ne, Maki-chan.”

“Mmm?” The named redhead looked up from her book to see her raven-haired girlfriend leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Got any plans for the 14th?”

“The 14th?”

Wait for it. Nico knew Maki was in studying mode and it would take a moment for her to register the significance of… oh, there she goes. That’s the reaction she wanted.

“I thought that much would be obvious.” The younger girl stated.

“You thought what would be obvious?” The older girl couldn’t help teasing.

“Mohhh…” Maki protested. “It’s obvious that I’m going to go on a date with my girlfriend.”

Nico had to admit she was impressed Maki made it through the statement without stuttering. Of course, she also blessed Nico with an adorable blush as well, which always made the teasing worth it. Even after over a year of being together, officially, Maki would still get embarrassed when talking about their relationship, and Nico couldn’t help exploiting that fact for her cute reactions.

“Just like last year.” Maki added.

And technically, the year before that. Nico thought to herself. And the year before that. And the year before that…

“I thought Maki-chan didn’t have time for dates.” Just like last year. And the year before that. And…

Maki shot her a deadpan look. Cute.

“I suppose I could just stay in and study.” Maki stated flatly.

And that was exactly what Nico wanted her to say.

“You know, staying in might not be such a bad idea…” Nico pondered, complimenting her contemplative tone by putting a finger to her chin and glancing upward.

“Wha? Wait, I thought…” Maki protested.

“Valentine’s Day is to celebrate romance and couples and lovely dovely stuff, right?”

“Well, yeah…”

“But Nico is an idol, so Nico can’t be doing that kind of stuff.”

Now Maki tilted her head to the side. She had been able to return fire for the initial volley of teasing, but now she was confused. “We’ve been dating for over a year…” she pointed out.

“And we’ve gotten off lucky so far, but Nico can only make so many excuses.”

“Have your producers been accusing you of anything?”

“There are always going to be rumors, especially about the two of us, since we’ve been so close, even before we started dating.”

“So… do you not want to go on a date on Valentine’s?” There was no mistaking the disappointment in Maki’s voice.

“Of course Nico wants to spend time with her favoritest Maki-chan on Valentine’s.” Nico assured. “But maybe keeping a low profile this year might help me combat some of those rumors?”

“I suppose…”

“So, this year, how about we celebrate here?” Nico suggested. “I’ll make a super special Valentine’s meal for us. And you know, tomatoes are red and that’s one of the big colors of the holiday so…”

The change in demeanor was immediate. A home cooked meal made by her favorite chef and using her favorite ingredient was a temptation Maki seldom passed up. “I guess it can’t be helped.” The younger girl decided, turning her prior disappointment into some return teasing.

“I’ll be sure to decorate this place.” The older girl offered. “And we can still dress up. Maybe you can see what else your friend has in her closet?”

“You know I moved some of my own stuff from home. A while ago, in fact.”

“Well Nico can’t wait to see what Maki-chan chooses.” A timer going off caught her attention. “Oh, dinner’s done. Help me set the table.”

Maki nodded, closed her textbook and followed her girlfriend into the kitchen.

“Welcome home!” Nico called from the kitchen as she heard the door open. “Happy Valentine’s Day!” She added, knowing the identity of the new arrival without needing to see her.

“That smells delicious, Nico-chan.” Maki replied from the entry as she removed her shoes. “And the decorations are very… you.”

Nico chuckled at the observation. “Just trying to match Maki-chan’s Christmas zeal.”

Though delivered in a teasing tone, there was a lot of truth in the statement. Nico’s passion for the holiday had historically been strictly idol related, until she fell for Maki and it took on a new meaning for her. Then they started dating and it became her second favorite holiday overall, edged out ever so slightly by Maki’s birthday.

Nico smiled as she heard her girlfriend take a deep breath as she entered the kitchen.

“I’d tell you not to peek and ruin the surprise, but Nico knows she has more cards up her sleeves than just what you see here.”

“Tomato soup?” Nico could practically hear the salivation in Maki’s tone.

“Not just any tomato soup; Provencal tomato rice soup.”

“French?”

“Yup. Home of the pomme d’amour.”

“Home?” Maki closed the distance between the two and slid an arm around the other girl. “I thought tomatoes came from the Americas? Southern and Central?”

Nico giggled. Of course Maki would know her tomato history. “Yeah, but France is where they got the name.” She explained before turning her head to accept the kiss she knew her girlfriend wanted. “And Valentine’s is a day to celebrate love, thus pomme d’amour. Oh, and these are real pomme d’amours.”

“Pommes d’amour.” Maki corrected. “The apples are the plural, not the love.”

“Nico’s love for Maki-chan is plural.”

“I-I… I don’t get it?”

Nico laughed at her girlfriend's adorable reaction. “But as I was saying, these tomatoes are actually from France.”

“You had tomatoes shipped from France?”

“Well, their seeds at least. They’re a hybrid based off the Marmande and are called Marbonne.”

“You grew them?” Maki’s glance found the living room and drifted toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms. “Where? In Nozomi’s room?”

“At Eli’s. Hey!” Nico swatted Maki’s hand away. “When did you get that spoon?”

“I just…”

“You’ll be able to have as much as you want in a moment.” Nico pointed to the table. “Go sit down and I’ll bring this out and we can have a proper meal. No pouting.”

Maki pouted anyway.

“Alright, let me just get this off…”

Without a word, Maki’s reached up to beat Nico to the bow securing the cook’s apron. Nico relented and let her girlfriend untie the strings. She resisted the urge to tell Maki to be careful with her hair as Maki’s hands moved up to her neck. Thankfully, Maki seemed to realize that Nico had specifically chosen the apron with and adjustable neck strap and thus slowly and carefully worked the clasp loose to avoid the need of pulling it over Nico head.

“Had your fun?” Nico smirked once the apron was off.

“Some…” Maki admitted.

“Well we have all night to continue that kind of thing. But right now, Nico is hungry and knows Maki-chan is as well.” She glanced down, expecting confirmation from her girlfriend’s belly.

“Maybe if I could just taste…”

“Maki-chan is incorrigible.”

“Only because Nico-chan’s cooking is irresis…” Maki cut off as the inevitable growl finally came.

“Table. Now. Go.” Nico shooed the other girl away.

Maki took the hint this time and made her way to her chair. Nico followed with the soup.

“And now for the first course of Nico’s Super Special Valentine’s Day Tomato Banquet!” the raven-haired girl announced, ladling out a serving for both her girlfriend and herself.

“Tomato Banquet?” Maki’s interest was piqued. “You mean…?”

“Yup, you’ll soon find that tomatoes are not just in the appetizer.” Nico took her seat. “Bon appétit!”

Maki wasted no time in grabbed her spoon, filling it with soup and bringing it to her lips. “Mmmm… that’s so~ go~od!” Her eyes closed and her shoulders pulled up as she savored the aftertaste.

Nico felt herself smile as she watched the redhead go for another spoonful. Sure, Nico would agree that her cooking was superb, in fact she often bragged about her skill, but watching Maki’s reactions was far more enjoyable than eating it herself. As such, she was barely halfway through her own bowl when Maki was finished.

“More?”

“Please.”

“Alright, but be sure to leave room for the main course.”

Maki nodded enthusiastically before draining her second serving.

“Alright, on to course two.” Nico got up and made her way back to the kitchen. There, she retrieved a pan from the oven and moved its contents to a prettier serving plate. “Turkish style stuffed tomatoes!” She announced, bringing the food back to the table.

“You grew tomatoes from Turkey as well?” Maki asked in amazement.

“Yup!” Nico placed a couple tomatoes on each of their plates. “Diamontino is apparently a popular kind there, so it was easy to get the seeds. I wanted to find out more about them, but I guess there is a movie with that title, so I kept finding reviews about that instead of the tomatoes.”

Maki chuckled before slicing off her first bite. As far as Nico was concerned, Maki appeared to be on cloud nine as she savored each mouthful. Conversation was light and as tomato themed as the meal, but that was fine as both girls were happy; Maki with tomatoes and Nico in watching Maki.

“Ready for course three?”

“There’s another?”

“Dessert!”

Maki blinked. “A dessert made with tomatoes?”

Nico grinned before retrieving said dessert from the fridge. “Southern tomato pie from the United States.”

“Tomato… pie?”

“It’s popular during tomato season in the southern states.” Nico explained, dividing up the pie. “Obviously, February is a long way away from then, but when I’m growing them myself inside, it’s always tomato season.”

“And the tomatoes are… green?” Maki inspected the slice she had been given.

“Cherokee Green, in fact. They’re ripe even if they don’t look like it.”

“Interesting.”

“Yeah, I was skeptical at first, but the author of the recipe I found liked them, so we’ll see.”

Though initially seeming hesitant, Maki brought a sizable forkful to her mouth without a tasting nibble first. Her eyes told Nico everything before she spoke. “This is amazing, Nico-chan.”

“I’m glad.” Nico replied. “I must admit I was a bit worried about this one, but a tomato is a fruit like any apple or berry or whatever else you might want to put in a pie, so…”

“Tomatoes are actually berries,” Maki pointed out “unlike many things we call berries; strawberries or raspberries for example.”

“Of course, Maki-chan would know such things about her favorite food.” Nico laughed. “And now it’s time for the pièce de résistance!”

“There’s more after dessert?”

“Sort of.” Nico went to get the final item. “It’s edible, sure, but it’s more a gift than part of the meal.” She handed a colorfully wrapped box to Maki.

“Is it a chocolate tomato?”

Nico almost snorted. “Just open it already.”

Maki did as she was instructed. “Pomme d’Maki?” She read the label attached to the stem of the tomato within.

“The fruit of Nico’s labor.” Nico proclaimed proudly. “Literally. That is no ordinary tomato you are holding, Maki-chan, but a unique, special hybrid made by me.”

“You… bred a new cultivar of tomato… for me?” Maki’s voice wavered a bit.

“I first cross-pollinated the Cherokee Green with the Diamontino and the Marbonne with some local Momotaro, then did the same the two results, which lead to the creation of the Pomme d’Maki!”

“That’s… three generations…” Maki thought aloud “At least, assuming you didn’t have issues with the cross-pollination. And with each generation being…” She looked up at Nico “You’ve…” She swallowed. “You’ve been planning… this…” She choked on the last word.

“Pretty much since Valentine’s of last year.”

“Nico-chan, that’s…” She cut off again, this time reaching out and pulling Nico into a hug. From her sitting position, she buried her face in Nico’s chest. “That’s so amazing…” She managed to get out while trying valiantly to hold back the tears. “… no’ fair…” Nico could barely make out the murmur.

“Nico sometimes has to think outside the box when it comes to getting gifts for someone like Maki-chan.” Nico admitted, patting her girlfriend on the head.

“…an’ you…” Came a muffled thanks.

Nico chuckled. “You’re welcome, Maki-chan.”

It took a good several minutes before Maki was able to compose herself again and slowly pulled away from Nico.

“Say, uhm… I hate to ask…” Maki’s hand went up wipe the moisture from her eyes before she started to twirl her hair as she thought about how to phrase her question. “What happened to all of the other tomatoes?”

“Don’t worry, Maki-chan.” Nico laughed. “They didn’t go to waste. Some I gave to Eli and Nozomi in thanks for helping me tend to the plants, but most I used in my cooking here.”

Maki furrowed her brow. “But I would have tasted the difference with the Marbonnes or seen the color of the Cherokee Green.”

“I figured your discerning taste would figure it out if I used them on their own, so I blended them with the Momotaros you’re used to.” Nico explained. “There was a reason I chose that kind as the fourth for the cross-pollination process.”

“Wait, you told me you found a better supplier and that’s why the tomatoes tasted better.”

“Technically I did find a better supplier; me.”

Maki opened her mouth as though to protest, but closed it again, realizing Nico had made a good point. “Anyway, d’Amour shouldn’t be abbreviated since the romanization of my name starts with an M.”

Nico knew Maki was just covering her embarrassment from her emotions earlier and not actually criticizing her gift and so she just shrugged. “I’m not French.”

“Yeah, but… oh never mind.” Maki stood up and pulled Nico in for another hug. “Thank you, Nico-chan. This has been an amazing Valentine’s Day. But I kind of feel bad that all I brought for you in return are chocolates.”

“The same chocolates you’ve given me since high school?”

“Yeah…”

“I love those chocolates, Maki-chan. And I love that it’s become a tradition that you give them to me every year.”

“I love you, Nico-chan.” Maki leaned down.

“I love you too, Maki-chan.” Nico tilted her chin up to accept the kiss. “So,” she said, pulling away after a moment “what do you want to do next? We have plenty of the evening left for a movie or… ah!” She gasped slightly as she felt a tug on the zipper on the back of her dress. “Or I suppose we could pick up where we left off with the apron…” She decided, pushing back up for another kiss.

Author’s Notes Continued in Followup Post

[idolacorxx]

Nozomi Tojo~ Muse

★~ name: Nozomi Tojo

Tagged~ Nozomi-chu ★~ age: 17 ★~ height: 159 cm ★~ weight: NA ★~ birthday: June 9 ★~ blood type: O ★~ THREE SIZES: B 90, W 60, H 82 ★~ Favorite food: Yakiniku ★~ hobbies:  Helping out at the local Kanda Shrine , spiritual things , Fortune telling, taking naps ★~ horoscope: Gemini ★~ hometown:Tokyo

INTERESTING FACTS

★~   In the manga, Nozomi isn't in the student council; instead, she is the only member left in the Supernatural Phenomenon Research Society, a club that she attempted to recruit Eli into. 

In addition to this, she grew up in Akihabara and adopted her dialect to match her fondness for the supernatural. 

★~ Nozomi is known to specialize in using Tarot cards to tell peoples futures.

The tarot deck that Nozomi uses isn't actually a real deck, but a hybrid of two 

CHARACTER INTRODUCTION:

“Even someone like me--- has something I already decided in my heart♡

Someday, if I meet someone I like more than anyone else, at that time I'll--- "Grant all the wishes of the person I love!", that's something I'll pray for. I pray for my power to reach everyone again today too---”

“-----My name is Nozomi Tojo, and as it stands it seems my future is to be Idol and to entertain you all, please do take care of me from now on. “

ABOUT:

Tōjō Nozomi (東條 希) is a member of μ's. She is the former Student Council Vice-president, as well as a member of Sonoda Umi's idol unit, Lily White.

After Eli wants some time alone in the classroom she encourages her to join along with the rest of the group. After Eli accepts, Nozomi tells the group that she gave them the name μ's.

Nozomi is a kind person who always helps the members of μ's. (even before she joined.) She is best friends with Eli and knows her more than anyone. 

As a child Nozomi was quiet and had no friends because she was always moving after Eli first transfers to Otonokizaka High, Nozomi tries to make friends with her because Eli is like her.

Nozomi is a third year student and the former vice-president of the school's student council, being succeded by Umi Sonoda. She is not originally from the Kansai region, and it is shown in Season 2 Episode 8 that she and her family had moved around for most of her childhood.

 However, she speaks in a relaxed Kansai dialect after having lived there for a few years during her childhood. 

She is fluent in a few other languages as well, including English. She is best friends with Eli.

As the former vice-president of the student council and the eldest member of μ's, Nozomi appears as a pretty wise, mysterious and mature girl with an almost all-knowing vibe to her, due to her tarot reading and fortune-telling skills. 

She's gentle and kind, as well as rather conspirative, usually being the first person to advise μ's whenever they run into an obstacle or trouble, and will usually remain calm and collected during most situations. This carries on even after joining μ's.

Nozomi has a very mischievous side, often teasing the other girls and causing them to get flustered. At times, she can seem perverted as well, as she sometimes threatens to punish some of the members of μ's by grabbing their breasts from behind, her most common target being Nico.

 This is most prominently seen in Season 1 Episode 7, in order to keep Honoka, Rin and Nico into studying and not fail their exams.

While mischievous, Nozomi also cares deeply for the other girls, and she highly cherishes the friendships the group has formed between them.

SONG THE IDOL SINGS:

*Otome Shiki Ren'ai Juku *Junai Lens *Garasu no Hanazono *Moshimo Kara Kitto *I'll smile for yours

[lonelypond]

Scenes From A Long Weekend

NicoMaki, Love Live, 3.3K, 1/1

Summary: We have a disturbed Eli, a second proposal, and Nico and Maki sneaking off to a penthouse suite.

Scenes From A Long Weekend

Ayase Eli’s phone went crazy. But she was in class so she slipped it out, saw Nico’s pic, flipped it to mute, slid it back in her pocket and managed to ignore the near constant vibrations for almost ninety seconds before she caved and pulled the phone out, hoping her professor wouldn’t comment on the distraction. Eli had become well known in the Economics department for her usual ‘Star Student’ habits so she knew the professor would not suspect her of casual disrespect.

N: ELI ELI ELI!!!! NICO NEEDS THE RING

N: TEXT ME

N: SKIP CLASS

N: NICO IS AT YOUR PLACE

N: ELI!!!!!!

N: ˛˛૧(˵¯͒▱¯͒˵)

Eli typed quickly.

E: What the heck....

N: NICO NEEDS THE RING. NOW.

E: You said I had until Maki’s birthday.

A pause and then an image downloaded, a snap of a Nico’s finger, one with a new cluster of pink gems, reminiscent of cherry blossoms. It was a beautiful piece. Eli whistled, which got her a glare from the TA. She ducked her head apologetically.

N: Nico’s genius girlfriend fiancee skipped ahead ₍՞◌′ᵕ‵ू◌₎♡

N: But now Nico needs to catch up. So NICO NEEDS THE RING. NOW ಠ⌣ಠ

E: I have plans with Nozomi tonight.

Eli was going to planning to take her own fiancee, Tojo Nozomi, out to a movie.

N: CANCEL THEM. Maki booked a suite at the Granbell. I can’t go in empty handed.

Eli blinked at that. Nico rarely shared any specifics of her plans with Maki, certainly not unless Nozomi crowbarred them out of her. Even more than her own privacy, Nico was protective of Maki’s.

E: Buy flowers. OR chocolate. Maki loves you. Obviously.

N: 凸(｀0´)凸

E: Language.

N: (ﾉ￣□￣)��� ~┻━┻

N:...please, Eli, it’s Maki. She’s supershy supercute ꒰ •͈́ ̫ •͈̀ ꒱ˉ̞̭ about romance and Nico CAN’T mess this up (ⅈ▱ⅈ)

Eli raised an eyebrow. Nozomi had always suggested that Nico and Maki’s relationship arc hadn’t left orbit yet, and Eli doubted Nico would be this open and this frantic if she weren’t desperate. Mood...and confidence really did matter in these situations, Eli knew from her own experience. Eli felt a twinge of sympathy for Nico’s plans being accelerated. But Maki had always been impulsive, wrecking many of Nico’s carefully laid schemes, which Eli would find about, after the fact, when she and Nozomi would catch Nico grumbling.

E: Calm down. I’ll be there as soon as I can.

E: But you’re making dinner. And at least three breakfasts worth of muffins.

N: ☆~~ヾ(>▽<)ﾉ｡･☆

N: ٩(๑∂▿∂๑)۶♡

N: ♡( ૢ⁼̴̤̆ ꇴ ⁼̴̤̆ ૢ)~ෆ♡

E: I’m putting my phone away now.

N: (ɔˆ ³(ˆ⌣ˆc)

E: Save it for Maki

N: 凸(｀0´)凸

The TA had gotten to glaring. Eli scrunched down a little, hands raised in what she hoped would read as a penitent gesture. The TA just shook her head sadly. Eli focused her attention on the professor, but her mind was skipping around the Maki had beaten Nico to a proposal thought. She should have texted Nozomi before she’d put her phone away. Eli started to reach into her pocket but the TA’s tetchy disapproval brought Eli’s better nature to the fore. After class, she’d call Nozomi. And then head home.

                                                                                             ###

Nishikino Maki was pacing. And packing. What should she take for the four days she and Nico were dropping off the grid? Laptop, linger...Maki shook her head, nervous, palms sweating. Two days was too much time to think, too many things she could buy, too much wondering what would Nico like, what would Nico bring, what would...Maki threw herself on the bed, grabbing the nearest pillow, and screaming into it. Too many decisions.

“Maki?”

She’d left the door open. Less of a trapped feeling. So of course her mother was standing there, staring into the room where Maki had emptied most of two drawers on the bed.

“Running away from home?” Her mother sounded a little sad. Maki put the pillow aside, but didn’t reply. “Your father just thinks you’re very young.”

Maki shrugged. “He doesn’t know much about me anymore.”

“No.” Maki’s mother pulled the desk chair to the middle of the room, “Your Idol phase…”

“It’s not a phase.”

“No. 𝜇’s seems to have…” her mother shook her head, trying to be careful with language, “You’ve really grown up since Honoka discovered you playing the piano.”

Maki grinned. Looking up to see Honoka gleam when listening to her play and sing was still one of her warmest memories.

“I’m very proud of you.” Maki’s mom took both of Maki’s hands, waiting until her daughter met her gaze, “If you ever want to talk about anything, I’ll be here for you. I love you, Maki.”

Maki nodded. “Thanks, Mama, but I really have too many things to do.”

“All right,” chair back to the desk, “but one of them had better be studying; you don’t want to do worse in high school than your fiancèe did, do you? I’m sure Nico would never tease you about that...”

“Mama…” Maki grabbed a pillow for support again.

Dr. Nishikino chuckled. There was still leverage, if you knew Maki well.

###

Nico was pacing. Maki stepped out onto the roof, on this still chilly, not quite Spring day, to see Nico not as bundled up as she expected. No mask, no scarf, just her long pink dress coat, over a very short, very stylish dress Maki had never seen before. Nico had dressed to impress, rather than for warmth. Maki rolled her eyes, she’d just have to get Nico back inside. If Nico really wanted to talk about something before dinner, surely they could do it in the music room.

“Nico-chan!” Maki stood in the door, “Come inside.”

Nico whirled, like she’d been caught at something, one hand in her pocket, the other caught in mid point.

“Nico-chan?” Maki stepped out onto the roof, the door closing behind her, mood suddenly as chilly as the wind cutting through her school blazer. Was Nico having second thoughts? “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” Nico’s voice was shaking as were her hands. She slapped her own face, muttering...Maki could barely hear every few words…”Nico...do this...problem....”

“Nico-chan?” Maki grabbed Nico’s sleeve, panicking, checking Nico’s hand to make sure the ring was still there, “Do you not want…did you change your...”

Nico shuddered, shifting out of motion into staring, blinking, hands waving in a stopping motion, “No, no...Nico’s…” Nico stomped and bounced in place, looking like a tiny cold, Ferdinand who’d just sat on a bee. “Nico’s just nervous because you jumped ahead and Nico was already planning to propose, but Eli was busy and you found a beautiful ring and Nico was too slow and now you want to...and Nico…”

Maki couldn’t follow that at all...Nico had nearly folded herself inside and out as she twisted through that explanation in the two tiny steps she had to get closer to Maki. Then her hand stroked down Maki’s forearm and Maki stopped thinking, all her senses captive to whatever Nico intended next.

“Hug me, Nico’s freezing.”

Maki laughed and pulled the tiny Idol into a crushing hug, picking Nico up and whirling them both. “I love you, Nico-chan.”

“I love you too, Maki. Wear this for me.” Nico took Maki’s left hand, and slid a ring on it, kissing Maki’s palm. Maki’s knees buckled and she could feel the tears rush in her throat when she realized what Nico had done, tears that were going to escape soon. A cluster of purple and red stones were set atop twisted platinum braids. “I had Eli switch from gold so we’d match.” Nico put her left palm against Maki’s, fingers entwining.

“Eli made this? It’s beautiful.” Maki’s grin grew even as she could feel the fluttering taking over.

“Of course it is, Nico picked everything out and now Nico owes her and Nozomi ten dinners for making her rush, but…” Nico put her right hand over Maki’s, pulling the redhead closer, Maki’s free hand falling to Nico’s shoulder, “Tonight, I want you to know how special you are, Nishikino Maki, how brilliant, how much you sparkle, how much I love you. Marrying you will be my happiest day.”

Maki couldn’t stop the tears, messy crying so both she and Nico had slick cheeks and soaked collars. Nico was kissing her, lips sliding together, sparks even through the tears, warmth even in the wind. “I love you, Nico-chan.”

Nico’s lips moved to Maki’s ear, whispering as Nico stroked Maki’s hair, “Want to try this indoors somewhere.”

Giddy, Maki grabbed Nico, lifting her again, whuumphing the air out of her fiancèe.

“Maki,” Nico tapped the redhead’s back, “breathing…”

“Sorry, Nico-chan.” Maki kept Nico’s hand in one of hers, using the other one to rub her eyes, “I just…”

Nico kissed Maki on the cheek, “Hold me as tight as you want, AFTER dinner. You can be Nico’s dessert.”

Maki blushed and bumped Nico with her shoulder. This was going to be okay, Maki thought, as she caught the stones glinting in her ring. No, she realized, as Nico hummed happily, this was going to be amazing.

###

“All mine, so fine Every touch is...unf...divine”

Nico had been dating Maki for more than a year now and it was not until this moment, during their first night together, alone, when Nico opened her eyes after a brief nap, and caught Maki in a whirlwind of motion, new robe falling open, still wearing nothing underneath, Nico’s ring glinting on the hand gesturing in the air, that Nico realized she was in love with a completely crazy person. Who played air guitar after sex. Nico giggled, the night was continuing to be legendary, “This is what you and Rin do when you have sleepovers, isn't it. Pretend you're in a rock band. But in cute animal pjs, I hope.”

Maki froze, blushed, and wrapped her robe around herself, crouching to make herself as small as possible, the lights of the Tokyo skyline in the window behind her.

“What were you singing?” Nico asked in a teasing voice.

Maki groaned before diving under the sheets.

“Maki?” Nico lifted the sheet, Maki looking up at her, eyes wide.

Nico could barely hear Maki's whisper: “All mine, so fine. Every touch is…” Maki paused, flaring blush…”unf...divine”

“Unf?”

Maki shook her head, refusing to clarify, pulling the sheet back down to cover her; Nico giggled 'No wonder you let Umi write the lyrics.” Nico heard Maki's temper flare in the drawn in breath and interrupted before Maki could snap, “but it's kinda sexy, especially with Nico's ring.” Nico took Maki's hand, yanking the redhead toward her until she saw tousled red hair and a bare shoulder. “Say it again.”

“Unf?” Maki sounded confused

“Again”, Nico let her voice and her eyes drop, turns out Maki blushed everywhere but when she looked back up, Maki had a dare back in those dreamfuel eyes

“Unf…”it was a low trill rolling up Maki’s throat so Nico pounced.

###

Nico was behind pillows scrolling through Maki’s budgeting app. “You’re not charging enough, Maki-chan. Nico knows how much a good producer costs and you’re twice as awesome for a tenth the price.”

Maki peeked over the top of her laptop, “But I was doing Tsubasa a favor…”

“A-Rise can afford you; they don’t need favors.” Nico paused, considering how to explain. “If you’re serious, people need to take you seriously. So you need to charge industry level fees.” Nico frowned at Maki, “Plus, we’re going to have a lot more living expenses when we move in together, rent, utilities…”

“Rent?” Maki seemed puzzled.

“What you pay monthly for an apartment.”

“Wouldn’t we just own the building? I have one.” Maki swept through windows on her laptop, trying to find the address of the house she’d inherited from her great aunt. Nico was just staring.

“You have a building?”

Maki nodded.

“Where?”

“Somewhere in Yanaka or Asakusa, I think. Our real estate management company handles the details, I think there are currently people living there...or it might need renovations? They won’t send me this year’s report for a few months yet.”

Nico had flopped back, against the headboard. “It will only really help if it’s in Shibuya or somewhere we can get a certificate.”

Maki was squinting at the screen, “Maybe we could trade it to my parents for another one of their properties.”

Nico watched the sky get lighter through the large windows of the Granbell’s Penthouse Suite as the dawn greeted Tokyo. Maki, dressed only in the short silk lavender floral robe Nico had bought her for this weekend, was lying in front of her laptop, smiling sweetly up at Nico, hair mussed in an oddly cute fashion that only worked for the redhead, or maybe Nico was just in that deep that Maki’s hair could do anything and Nico would find herself wanting to tangle fingers in the curls. So she did and Maki leaned in to the touch with an almost purr. There had been so many revelations since they’d checked in and now, waiting for a very late midnight snack 38 hours into their getaway, they’d reached the discussing money and other practical things portion of their plan. And Nico was trying very hard not to feel like she was slipping into a flood.

“Nico-chan?”

Nico glanced down and Maki’s head was tilted toward her, amethyst eyes still full of softness and wonder.

“Just trying to wrap my head around what I’m marrying into…”

Maki looked worried and put her laptop on Nico’s pillow, flipping over and sitting up, to drape herself over the Idol’s back, nuzzling into sable hair, “Here, just look at last year’s summary of my holdings...it’ll explain it better than I could. This is just what’s in my name, not the family stuff.”

And the numbers on the screen were still more than Nico in her wildest dreams had planned to net in ten years. “No wonder your parents don’t want you to marry Nico. There’s a lot to protect.”

“I don’t need protection…” Maki sounded angry.

“What if I want to protect you?”

Maki snorted, “I’ll think it’s cute. Like you.”

Nico slid an arm around Maki’s waist, pulling her fiancèe nose to nose, “Nobody hurts you on Nico’s watch.”

“Do I swoon now?” Maki giggled.

“Well, yeah.” At Nico’s indignant agreement, Maki started laughing so much she bounced both of them to the edge of the bed.

###

“I can’t believe you brought cookies.” Maki munched as she spoke, digging through Nico’s food stash bag.

“Thank you, Nico. I have a genius for a future wife. These are the things you should be saying.” Nico complained, poking Maki with a pillow.

Maki pivoted, grabbing the pillow, but then leaning in to kiss Nico firmly on the lips, “How about I share?”

Nico’s tongue flicked out, “They are tasty.”

“So are you.”

Nico laughed and tossed another pillow at Maki, “I thought you wanted to order dinner.”

Maki fell back, letting the sheet slide down her torso. She’d learned quickly that that was guaranteed way to get Nico’s attention. And yes, there was Nico’s hand, fingers tapping a gentle rhythm as they moved across her hip, Nico dropping to her shoulder to face her.

“I’m not as hungry now.” Maki grinned, reaching behind her to grab another cookie and bite into it, “Thank you, Nico.”

Nico bopped Maki’s nose with her own, “You’re too cute.”

Maki raised both eyebrows, “Exactly.”

“So it’s a plan, this cuteness.” Nico shifted closer, and Maki found herself staring again, strangely nervous.

“Umm…” How did Nico do that, things would be casual, they would be talking, or flirting or just sitting there, and something would change, deep in her lusturous eyes, a shadow would brighten, sharp want would rip through polished charm, a particular shade of ruby would flame, the intensity would laser up, and Maki the mess would be blushing and stumbling over words and crazy to get closer.

“Nico approves.” It was a whisper, so Maki would have to get nearer to hear, and then the tender words that followed were so soft, Nico had to press them onto Maki’s lips with her own.

###

“You’re probably all wrinkled by now.” Nico decided as she walked up to the bath, startling Maki. The lighting was low, Chopin was playing over the speakers, and Maki sunk low into the water.

“Come on, Nico’s lonely.” Nico perched on the side of the tub and splashed at Maki, who grimaced and protected her face.

“I like it here.”

“Once Nico takes off her robe, the view downstairs will be better.”

Maki sighed and pulled her knees to her chin, leaning forward. Nico considered for a minute, then slid into the tub, not caring about the hotel robe, embracing Maki. “It’s not even warm anymore. You’re shivering.”

“Nico-chan…” Maki sounded young. And scared, Nico realized.

“What is it? Nico loves you, everything will be fine.”

Maki shook her head, sinking even lower.

Nico decided drastic measures were required so she rose to her feet, leveraging a Maki too slow to react with her, and for a truly scary moment, both of them were sliding then Nico recovered, sitting on the edge, Maki falling over her.

“This is a position Nico hadn’t thought of,” Nico tickled Maki, who was lying across her lap, slippery and complaining.

“That was dumb, Nico-chan. We could have fallen.” Maki batted at Nico’s hands, “Stop that.”

At least Nico had gotten the gloomy out of Maki’s voice. The redhead pushed herself up, trying to cover herself with her hands until she could grab her towel. Nico looked away. Then suddenly, Maki was squeezing her tightly from behind, damp curls cold against Nico’s cheek.

“I don’t want to go home.”

“No.”

“Let’s stay.”

“Nico misses a kitchen.”

“Sneak me back with you.” Maki started kissing Nico’s ear, her hands sliding down Nico’s shoulders.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Maki stopped, surprised.

Nico shrugged, “I miss seeing you everyday. I’m going to miss you more now.”

“Yeah.” Maki sat on the edge of the tub again, hanging her head.

Nico swiveled and took Maki’s hand, “Nico’s under contract for three more months of Idol House residence. Then we can do something else.”

“Really?”

“Well, staying at the house would be convenient, but Nico’s got a lot of offers and if I could just toss you in my luggage, I’d take them.”

“And if I make it so you can toss me in your luggage?” Maki was leaning against Nico, which helped a little with the freezing.

“We’ll conquer the world.” Nico was hit by the weight of two futures suddenly, but with Maki’s hand in hers, she felt more confident than any of her brash “Nico Nico Ni” Idol moments, “Nico Ni and her Maki-chan.”

“Yeah.” Maki shifted even closer, her voice clear, sure. “I love you, Nico-chan.”

“I love you, Maki.”

Soft kisses were even better than the steamy ones, soft kisses, tender strokes, open hearts, wide eyes, true feelings, firm resolves.

A/N: And we continue...Cheers!

[oumiyuki]

We Love You, Nozomi-chan

Summary: Honoka and Eli pampers Nozomi to no end for her birthday this year.

Pairing: Nozomi x Honoka x Eli (NozoHonoEli)

Genre: Fluff, Romance

Words: 1636

Read me at fanfiction.net or AO3 too~

Author Notes

Me thinking do I write NozoHono or NozoEli for Nozomi’s birthday…

And then my brain goes why not NozoHonoEli!

XD May you enjoy~

Nozomi turns to her side, sighing as she felt the warmth of another body with her in bed. She didn’t have to open her eyes to know it was her favourite gingerhead that was lying next to her as she could hear out Honoka’s sleepy breaths. Nozomi smiles.

She had a mini debate of whether she should open her eyes now or later; her desire to see Honoka in the flesh won her over as she blinked in the light and her light.

“Good morning~” Honoka was beaming adorably up at her from below the sheets and unabashedly snuggled her way onto Nozomi, resting her soft cheeks on the purplenette’s shoulders that vibrated with a fond giggle.

“Good morning…Honoka-chan…What are ya doing?” Nozomi wraps her free arm around Honoka’s waist so that the extra-cuddly girl won’t slip off her. She knew Honoka would just climb back on, but being a bit selfish this morning, Nozomi wanted to make sure this warmth was with her as long as possible.

“I’m snuggling Nozomi-chan.” Honoka announces proudly; Nozomi wasn’t sure why the gingerhead was so proud of it but that made her smile more.

“Then can I snuggle Honoka-chan too~?”

Honoka’s blue eyes literally lit up and Nozomi swore she could hear Honoka’s thoughts of how much she loved her. “You don’t have to ask, Nozomi-chan!” And with that, Honoka dives back down and nuzzled inwards Nozomi’s nape.

Nozomi breaks into hearty laughter as she felt tickled by Honoka’s silky tresses. “H-Honoka-chan…”

“Ehehe~” Honoka relentlessly shared her warmth and hugged Nozomi tight.

After some time of sweet snuggles, Nozomi decided to question the elephant in the room, or what’s missing. “Where’s Elichi, Honoka-chan?”

Honoka remains unmoving for a few seconds. Nozomi wonders why the gingerhead is hiding. “Honoka-chan?”

Honoka slides off Nozomi to pull the blanket partly over her face, her blue eyes were bright and entirely focused on Nozomi, and admittedly, Nozomi wishes Honoka didn’t move away.

“Eli-chan is working on Phase 1~” Honoka explains from below the blanket. Nozomi could feel the huge smile Honoka was smiling; gods, her girlfriend is so adorable.

“Phase 1?”

Honoka nods earnestly and right on time, Eli’s voice travelled from the kitchen to the room. “Phase 2, Honoka~”

“Phase 2?” Nozomi echoes and before she could even think what those could mean, Honoka returns an energetic “Okay!”

Not wasting a second, the gingerhead with the angelic smile Nozomi thinks never faded since she woke was now climbing atop her, both hands to each of Nozomi’s sides. The view was…quite indescribable; Nozomi concluded as she gulps. Her emerald eyes never straying from Honoka.

“Honoka-chan..?”

Honoka simply giggles before lowering her body to Eskimo kiss the purplenette. Taking pride in making Nozomi stare at her lovestruck, Honoka dips back down to press her lips to Nozomi’s. “Breakfast is ready…Nozomi-chan. Now I’ll escort you to the bath to get ready for today…”

“Eh?” Nozomi couldn’t catch up; one moment she was being pampered with a sensual kiss and the next moment Honoka is using a husky voice and moving away from Nozomi again.

“C’mon, Nozomi-chan~” Honoka offers a hand and Nozomi gladly takes it; she won’t admit it out loud, but she’s extra needy on her birthday. She didn’t have to say it, however, as Honoka and Eli both know.

Nozomi allows herself to be ushered into the shower. Brushing her teeth, washing her face…she half expected Honoka and Eli to forcefully join her in the showers, but even though she took a little longer to wash herself, they didn’t pop by. Keeping her sulk in check, she exits the bathroom. And she sees Eli smiling charmingly at her, sitting with one leg crossed over the other on their shared bed.

“Nozomi! Good morning~” Eli’s sky blue eyes twinkled with love to see Nozomi fresh out the bath, wrapped in a towel, and looking back at her. “This is…Phase 3.” Eli chuckles low as she handed Nozomi the change of clothes.

Nozomi arches her eyebrow. “I guess I shouldn’t question any of this and just follow along?”

Eli laughs again. “You know us so well, Nozomi.” Eli leans in to leave a peck on Nozomi’s cheek, lingering close as she loves seeing Nozomi’s cheek turn a cute red.

Nozomi huffs out her nose, flustered and a tad exasperated. The three of them have been dating for five years now. It’s endearing and annoying at the same time how they know each other so well. And today may be her special day, Nozomi knows they have something planned for her but the way they were playing all the cards well and teasing her…The purplenette shakes her head and pushes pass Eli playfully. “Excuse me while I…put some clothes on.”

Eli laughs and walks back to the bed to sit.

“You’re not even going to close your eyes?” Nozomi asks as she noted what she was about to put on.

The blonde grins. “Honoka got to snuggle you earlier. And I’m sure she stole some kisses too. It’s only fair I get this.”

Nozomi mockingly glares at Eli as she took off her towel. “How is this fair for me?”

Eli breaks into a huge smile, leaning back as she cheekily sounds, “Mm~ You’ll see.”

Nozomi now donned in a light purple, frilly top and comfy, baggy long pants crossed her arms below her chest. “Why am I dressed in pyjamas?”

Eli stands and uses one hand to gesture at herself – a long-sleeved orange and purple striped shirt paired with light blue shorts. “I’m in pyjama too, Nozomi. We match.”

“But-” Nozomi’s protest was cut short as Eli stole Nozomi’s lips, only pulling away when Nozomi elicits a moan. “Elichi!”

The ridiculously suave blonde chuckles unabashedly and walks Nozomi to the room’s door. “It’s only fair~”

Nozomi could only mumble “Totally unfair…” but her embarrassment was put on pause as she saw Honoka in a heart apron running with a tray of pancakes run towards the television and couch.

“Oh! Nozomi-chan! Eli-chan~” Honoka stops running as Eli puts her hand over Honoka’s waist and stole yet another kiss. Except Honoka took it in her stride better than Nozomi did as she hummed into the kiss. “Once our princess is seated, we’re all set for Phase 4~ hehe~”

Eli nods and returns to Nozomi’s side. “May we~?”

The purplenette sighs. “I can’t say no, can I?”

Honoka spins around, hands to her hips, with the apron on, her loving but stern wife persona was very much believable. “The correct question here is~”

“Do you want to say no?” Eli finishes the question with a knowing smile.

Nozomi shakes her head again as she places her hand on Eli’s. Her rosy cheeks proof of how her two girlfriends were expertly making her heart race and feeling very, very loved on her birthday this year.

Eli seats Nozomi in the centre of their couch that she dolled up with a bear patterned blanket; Honoka insisted that if they didn’t add something cute in their birthday surprise, Nozomi might think she’s having a very elaborate dream. Eli tried to argue that they had Honoka’s cuteness already. Honoka’s blushing pout won that round as Eli layered the couch with the bear-print blanket and cushions.

“This is…really comfy?” Nozomi comments bringing Eli out of her reverie.

“It should be.” Eli affirmed as she sat to Nozomi’s left before turning towards the kitchen. “Take off your apron, Honoka. Then hurry over.”

Nozomi blushed at that. “Isn’t Honoka-chan only in an apron?”

Eli blinks. Then blinks again. She saw Honoka approaching in her peripheral, dressed. “No? What are you thinking of, Nozomi?”

Nozomi’s face turned strawberry-red. “I-I…”

Eli chuckles as Honoka arrived. “If that’s what you want, I’m sure Honoka won’t mind.”

“Eh? What won’t I mind?” Honoka chirps as she sat to Nozomi’s right.

The purplenette looked to see that Honoka was wearing a large white t-shirt that had a purple heart in the centre, under the huge shirt peeked a light blue shorts that were the same as Eli’s. Nozomi clears her throat to push the image of naked Honoka sitting beside her. “It’s nothing.”

“Aww~ I’ll do anything for Nozomi-chan though! So just tell me if you really want it, okay?” Honoka beams innocently at Nozomi and Nozomi could only swat at Eli who was laughing at her.

“It’s my birthday, mind you.”

Eli couldn’t stop laughing. “H-Honoka…please proceed with Phase 4…”

Honoka nods and picked up the tray she already pre-cut the pancakes then drew chibi Nozomi, Eli and herself with hearts all about with chocolate and maple syrup. “We love you, Nozomi-chan~ so today! We’ll be feeding you breakfast and watching movies right here!”

Nozomi stares at the tray of food, no, she stares at the chibi drawing of the three of them, smiling and all those hearts…it was so Honoka to do something like that and so Eli to make the pancakes extra fluffy. Nozomi couldn’t find her voice and her girlfriends tenderly slipped a hand around her waist and another over her shaking hands. Yet another unspoken affirmation of love.

“Is it…really okay for me to be this happy..?” Nozomi asked tearfully, voice shaky.

Honoka and Eli share a look. “Of course.”

“There’s only more to come, Nozomi-chan~” Honoka adds, giving Nozomi’s hand a firm squeeze.

“Honoka and I have so much we want to give you, Nozomi…This is hardly enough to convey our love for you.” Eli nudges Nozomi’s side, and rubbed Nozomi’s waist lovingly.

“Elichi…Honoka-chan…” Nozomi sniffles loudly to hold her tears back. “Just having you two here with me…means so much to me already…” Nozomi’s voice cracked at the end and she moves to hug both of her girlfriends closer.

Honoka and Eli kiss Nozomi’s cheek on both sides fully. “We love you, Nozomi(-chan).”

 Author Notes

NozoHonoEli is so fluffyyyyy!! *O* and Nozomi deserves all the love!!

Happy Birthday, Nozomi-chan! My goddess and our goddess and Honoka and Eli’s loving wife~ XD hehe~

Ahh~

Leave me a comment if you like! *O* (Let’s all eat lots of meat in celebration of Nozomi’s birthday because meat is Nozomi’s favourite food! XD hehe~)

[dekinswritings]

SUPER Secret Santa, Part 2

@saberin​ surprise!! Thanks for dealing with me for another year! I hope you get to close this year feeling better, I love you val! Thanks for dwelving into VA-11 HALL-A with me, supporting me with L1-L1 WH80 and helping me iron out my fics this year. And thanks to @huesofthemorning​ for some 3rd years pointers, they were mighty helpful.

NozoNicoEli. 616 words.

“H-Hey, what’re you doing-?!”

“You sit down here…”

“And let us prepare dinner!”

Nico could only keep quiet out of sheer bafflement. Eli had just picked her up as if she was paper (granted, Eli always did make it seem like Nico was lighter than a feather when she carried her) and put her on the couch.

“We agreed to make sukiyaki though-”

“Yup, and Nicocchi gets to rest for a bit,” Nozomi added from the kitchen as she took the portable stove to the dining table.

“You’ve prepared basically everything on your own this whole year, like on Nozomi’s birthday, my birthday, my sister’s birthday, our anniversary, Christmas…” Eli listed as she looked for the TV remote and put it on the armrest of the couch. “So you can sit back and let us prepare this one. In return for this year.”

Nico never doubted the capabilities of her two girlfriends. Nozomi had several more years of experience of living on her own than Eli and Nico and Eli was always the most responsible of the two and she probably had lived a survivalist’s life back in Russia for years, even if she adamantly refused so (that’s what Russian spec ops like Eli wanted you to believe). But putting them together was a whole different thing. Somehow this duo managed to take two positives and turn them into negatives, specifically when it came to wanting to impress Nico. Nico had pretty much saved all of those three birthdays because her surprisingly incompetent girlfriends had managed to burn two cakes and almost set the apartment on fire and after those two incidents Alisa trusted no one but Nico to save her when Eli insisted on baking her a cake. Yeah, Nico was pretty amazing. She had to be if she wanted to survive in this apartment.

But those blue eyes filled with excitement and expectations tied a knot on Nico’s throat that would not let the “no” come out.

“Fine, but don’t screw it up,” Nico huffed and crossed her legs.

“We won’t disappoint you.”

Eli’s words echoed in Nico’s head as she took the remote and turned on the TV to watch the New Year’s special.

They wouldn’t disappoint Nico. They’ve never had. Not when they were school idols, not when they confessed to each other, not when they moved in together.

“Wait, is that water? You don’t put water in the mixture- Elicchi, stop!”

They wouldn’t disappoint Nico, Nico repeated in her head.

“Nozomi, I don’t think the eggs- the eggs go in separate bowls!”

They’ve never had, Nico repeated as her fingers fiddled with the remote,

“I told you to slice the meat, not chop it!”

Not when they were school idols, her teeth gritted as Nico turned up the TV’s volume.

“Did you use sake or the cooking sake?”

Not when they confessed to each other. Not when they moved-

“There’s a difference?”

Nico had enough. Eli and Nozomi had not disappointed her because, really, Nico already knew it was not going to go as planned. It never did with these two. Dropping the remote on the couch, Nico quickly got up and turned around.

“Alright, you two are useless without Nico-!”

Her voice failed to come out when Nico saw the perfectly set up sukiyaki hot pot on the table, ingredients simmering smoothly, bowls of rice and egg laid out alongside cups and a large shouchuu bottle.

“Got ya,” Nozomi teased with a wink.

“Thanks for taking care of us, Nico.”

Nico had to rub her forehead and groan. These two had to audacity to close the year by tricking her.

Nico was never disappointed in them. They always amazed her.

[mackinmacki]

The #1 Idol

Rating: K

Word Count: 3004

Summary: During her second year, Nico celebrates her birthday alone. Well, almost.

Pairing: NozoNico

Notes: Happy birthday, Nico!

Links: (FFN) | (AO3)

July 22nd was just a normal day. That's what she told herself to get out of bed and drag herself over to her closet. It wasn't fair that there was school that day. Her birthday should be a national holiday. At least that's what she thought. She had to remind herself of the truth, though: the school only knew it was her birthday through her records. They didn't care what day it was. Nobody outside her immediate family did.

That thought almost defeated her. Some days it did. Not the thought that nobody cared about her birthday specifically, but that nobody cared about her in general. She'd pretend she was sick, and would get to spend the day with her adoring siblings while her mom went to work. At least her brother and sisters cared about her. They treated her like a bigshot idol, which she admittedly hadn't dissuaded. And she may have been the reason for those thoughts in the first place. It made her feel good, though. They didn't need to know that her idol dreams were destroyed the moment her fellow idolmates had walked out the door of the clubroom and never returned. Second year was really kicking her butt.

Standing in her closet, she strongly considered getting right back into bed and sleeping the morning away. It was her birthday, after all. If no one else was going to care about it, at least she could treat herself to not going to school. It'd be a present to herself. She knew that she probably couldn't miss any more school, though. The illness excuses were probably wearing thin on the principal. Sighing, she stripped off her nightwear and changed into her school uniform.

She sat at the kitchen table and forced herself to eat breakfast, though she wasn't all that hungry. There wasn't much for her to eat anyway. She needed to go grocery shopping, though the family finances always were a constraint. At least not feeling very hungry worked in her favor when it came to lacking money. She made herself eat a banana, then slung her bag over her shoulder and left the house. Nobody was up yet to wish her a happy birthday. She could handle it, though. At this point, she was used to going an entire school day without anyone bringing it up.

School wasn't even interesting that day. Nobody talked to her, and the lessons weren't able to pierce the veil of her dour mood. Not that her classes were interesting in the first place, but today they dragged on an especially long time. At one point she even dropped her head against her desk and had to stifle a groan. This was the worst. It was so frustrating. If she had to be sad, why couldn't she be sad at home? At least she could use her phone without having to hide it under her desk.

Lunchtime came and Nico sat outside on a bench underneath the shade of a tree. Alone, as usual. Other people would walk by, but none of them bothered to look her way. Not that she cared. She didn't need their pity. Everything was going just fine, thank you very much.

In her lunch, she had tucked away something special just for herself: a cupcake she'd splurged on at a dessert shop a couple days ago. She'd put it in a tupperware container, though some of the frosting had come off on the inside of the lid. Opening it up, she grabbed a candle she'd stowed away in her bag and put it in the middle of the cupcake. Holding it in her hands, it looked like the saddest one girl party imaginable.

"Happy birthday to me." She sighed and imitated blowing out the candle. Of course, she wouldn't be allowed to bring matches to school, so she'd have to make due with her imagination. Staring at the cupcake, sitting there all by herself, she almost didn't feel like eating it at all. Keyword: almost. It was too good of a sweet to lose all of her appetite over. She plucked the candle out and idly sucked the frosting off of it. It only sort of tasted like wax.

"Does that taste good?" Nico nearly swallowed the candle, spitting it out onto the grass as she turned to look at whoever was speaking to her. A teasing but gentle smile greeted her. "Oh, don't choke on it, Nico."

"Nozomi! What are you doing here?" She didn't really know Nozomi all that well. They had classes together, but that was the only place where they really spoke. Even then, it wasn't like they chatted frequently. Nozomi was the one who initiated most of the conversations, with Nico sometimes feeling like she was being forced into speaking. Maybe Nozomi was just trying to be friendly, but it could come across as a little overbearing. Honestly, she felt that Nozomi tried too hard to befriend other people, with her card tricks and all. They were both social outcasts in their own ways, but she didn't feel like she needed to do a song and dance for other people to get them to like her. That wasn't her style. She didn't care one bit. Not at all...

"Well, I wanted to come wish you a happy birthday!" She smiled shyly, waiting to see if Nico would invite her to sit with her. Nico just stared at her at first, the cupcake in her hand temporarily forgotten. She didn't expect that anyone would bother to know when her birthday was, not even Nozomi. Even if Nozomi had tried to be friendly with her before, she wouldn't have expected this. Why did she know it? Narrowing her eyes, she stared at Nozomi's face, trying to determine what she was trying to gain. After what had happened with her other so-called friends, she didn't trust anyone to want anything with some sort of strings attached.

"Well, uh... Thanks, I guess." She kept staring, though she started to feel sorry for Nozomi just standing there and squirming a bit. "You wanna sit down or something? Jeez..." Nozomi smiled in relief, sitting down next to Nico and placing her bag on her lap.

"I got you something. Um, it isn't much, but I hope you like it!" She pulled out a CD from her bag and presented it to Nico, smiling hopefully. "I know you like idols a lot, so I burned you this CD of some idol music." Quirking an eyebrow, Nico glanced down at the CD. It was a blank white disk in a plain jewel case. Scrawled on the CD in sharpie were the words '#1 Idol in the Universe!' She had no idea what idol Nozomi had downloaded for this, but either she thought very highly of their music, or this singer thought very highly of themselves.

"Thanks." She took the CD with her free hand, continuing to stare at it. She'd never gotten a present before from someone she wasn't related to. It didn't even seem like a 'give in order to get' kind of present, since it seemed like a cheap gift. Not that she was denigrating it or anything. Hell, she knew more than most about having to make due when it came to purchases. Her mind may have been a bit scrambled from the sudden friendliness. She'd never really understood why Nozomi wanted to talk to her, especially not this year. Nobody else did.

Laying the CD in her lap, she finished unwrapping her cupcake and started to eat it, occasionally glancing over at Nozomi. She was watching her eat, and though she tried to hide it, Nico could tell that she was disappointed. Maybe she expected more than just a curt 'thanks' for a response, or that they'd actually have a conversation instead of Nico just eating in front of it. It made her feel a bit guilty. Just a bit, though.

"Uh, so..." Ugh, this was stupid. She wasn't good at small talk. When she had something to say, she just came out and said it. Big and bombastic was her style, not elevator talk. "Really, thanks. I, uh, I appreciate the gift. Really. But how did you know it was my birthday? I don't remember mentioning it to you." One could say 'Well, if you want people to know your birthday, you have to tell them,' but Nico was tired of telling people and getting lip service in return. It didn't mean anything.

"Oh, uh... Well..." Nozomi laughed sheepishly, tugging on her right sleeve. "I... may have asked Elicchi to look up your file for me." Ah. Well, that made sense. If there was anything that made less sense than Nozomi being friendly with her, it was Nozomi being friends with Eli. That was actually school-wide gossip for a time, though it had died down somewhat in recent weeks. Not completely, though. It still seemed wild to believe Nozomi, weird as she was, would be friends with arguably the hottest - yet coldest - girl in the whole school. Nobody before had seemed to be able to break through that wall of ice she had around her, even with an industrial strength icepick. It was a weird union, but apparently they were good enough friends to look through private school files together.

"Looking up students' files, eh? Didn't know the student council did such things. Or maybe the others don't know. Bet that'd hurt the Mad Russian's chance at getting to be president, wouldn't it?" She noticed the flash of fear go through Nozomi's eyes, her demeanor changing instantly. Why did she feel bad when she was just needling her? "Come on, I'm joking. I'm not gonna snitch on you, jeez. It's not that big a deal anyway. Don't turn on the waterworks or anything."

"I wasn't going to cry!" Nozomi folded her arms and pouted. "I didn't want you to know I was getting you something, so I had to surprise you." She was back to smiling, like she'd flipped back on her happy switch. That was fast. "You'll listen to it when you get home, right? I think you'll really like it."

"Yeah, sure. I can do that." She would. Probably. She could at least listen to the first track and just pretend she listened to the whole thing. At least to avoid hurting Nozomi's feelings. Hell, maybe she could listen to the whole thing. It wouldn't kill her, probably. Besides, it couldn't be more than eighty minutes. She had that to spare. It wasn't like she was going out to live it up for her birthday. "Who's this 'number one' idol anyway?"

"Oh, you'll know who they are when you listen. It's an up-and-comer, but I think they're going to become very big in the idol world! I'm sure an idol savant like you will know even currently underground idols." Well, she wasn't wrong. Nico did pride herself on knowing the ins and out of the idol world, along with all of the singers and groups that were within it. She was trying not to think about it, though. After the dissolution of her idol group, she'd tried to ween herself off of her dreams. Sure, she'd put on a good face for her siblings, but she knew the truth: she wasn't going to make it. She couldn't really get mad at Nozomi, though. It wasn't like her file had any info on her dreams being crushed. At least, she didn't think it did.

"Yeah, you're right. I am the foremost idol expert at this school, after all." It came off her tongue so easily, even if it stung a bit. Doing her best to shrug it off, she finished off her cupcake and left the trash by her side. All this talking was going to keep her from getting some food in her stomach before the bell rang. Before she could open up her bento box, Nozomi swiped a finger right by her lips. "What do you think you're doing?"

"You had frosting on your face." Nozomi smiled and stuck her finger in her mouth, licking off the frosting. "Ooh, that's good. Store-bought, though." How could she even tell that? Better question: why was she wiping frosting off of her face? Nico heated up at the sudden close contact, which she tried to hide by focusing on her food. But focusing on her food made her notice something else: the lack of food Nozomi was holding.

"Where's your food, anyway? You not gonna eat or something?"

"I already ate." Nico side-eyed her suspiciously. She said it without missing a beat, but for some reason Nico didn't believe her. There was just something that made her feel like Nozomi was hiding her lack of food for whatever reason. Rolling her eyes, she shifted her bento box so that it was on her right leg, closer to Nozomi.

"Have a bit, alright? And don't argue. The birthday girl is always right." Nozomi stared at her, surprised. Then she smiled and took some food without any resistance. They engaged in some small talk while they ate lunch together, most of it involving Nozomi trying to dispel Nico's preconceived notations about Eli. For once, time seemed to fly by, and the bell rang before either of them were ready for it to.

"I'll see you at lunch tomorrow, Nico!" Nozomi stood up, then stopped herself, realizing that she'd spoken based on an assumption. "I mean, if... you want to eat lunch together." She smiled shyly, but Nico was able to see through it again. Why would she want to sit with her when she assumedly spent her lunch time sitting with Eli?. Maybe it was just pity, or Nozomi again trying too hard to make friends. ... Ahh, what the heck? It's not like she hated eating with Nozomi or anything.

"Yeah yeah, I never said I didn't. You're gonna have to come to my bench, though. I ain't movin' for no one." That seemed to perk Nozomi up instantly. She smiled widely and nodded eagerly. Then the two of them walked back into the school, chatting idly as they returned to class.

Nozomi was the only person at school to wish her a happy birthday, but it was one more than she expected. It was better at home, where her siblings rushed her with cheers of 'Happy birthday!'. They had made her a card, something that she cherished every year. There wasn't many presents, but it wasn't something she expected. She just appreciated that she had her family there to celebrate her day with.

It was when she was alone in her room that she remembered the CD Nozomi gave her. Pulling it out of her bag, she figured she might as well listen to it while doing the negligible amount of homework she had to do that night. Not that they should even give out homework on what should a national holiday, but she'd just have to take that up with the student council.

She put the CD into her computer, pulling out her homework while it loaded. To her surprise, there were only three songs on the disk, and there was no information on any of them. That was strange. What exactly was Nozomi up to? Well, at least she could figure out who the hell this 'number one' idol was, anyway. She double clicked the first song and waited for it to play.

Stranger still, there wasn't even any music to accompany the song. All that was there was someone singing. It was... familiar, though. Nozomi had been right: she knew who this idol was. It was on the tip of her tongue... As she tried to think about who it was, she started to sing along with the song. It only took several lines for her to realize what she was doing, her eyes widening with the realization that she did know who the singer was. It was herself.

Her homework laid on her desk unfinished as she sat and stared at her screen, flabbergasted. That was clearly her singing, but she'd never recorded herself doing that. At least, not when this had to have been recorded. She recognized the lyrics from a song she'd written for her idol group the previous year, which meant it had to be either from last year or... or maybe when she'd been singing to herself in the clubroom. Still, it hadn't been recorded!

So that meant that... Nozomi recorded it? Had she been stalking her for all this time? That was a high grade on the creep factor for recording her without her knowledge. But... it was also kinda sweet, if something could be both creepy and sweet. For however long it had been, Nozomi had been listening to her singing. She must've been silently supporting her in the background for all this time. With what she knew about Nozomi, it wasn't really much of a surprise. She definitely had some weird things she did when it came to being friendly, but it did seem to all be with good intentions.

Leaning back in her chair, she listened to herself singing - not in a self-centered way this time - and thought about what Nozomi had written on the disk. "Number one idol, huh?" She laughed softly, smiling at the thought. Well, at least one person that wasn't related to her thought she was a good idol. Maybe there was hope. If there was one person in the shadows enjoying what she did, then perhaps there were others. They were just too shy to come forward and tell her. So... she would need to get them to open up herself.

"Oh Nozomi, I'm really gonna have to teach you about properly socializing," she said to herself, ignoring her own lack of friends in the school. "I'll have to thank her for the gift tomorrow, though. This... This will not be the end! Super idol Nico Nico Nii shall rise again!"

[anime-matchmaker-blog]

Shiratorizawa: Love Live Headcanons

Ushijima:

best girl: Dia

downloaded the game b/c of Tendou’s constant urging

doesn’t get the point of the game

you tap the girls’ faces?? why?? how is it fun??

he could be resting, doing homework, or practicing volleyball instead of playing

still checks out the game from time to time since his teammates talk about it occasionally

can’t figure out why it’s an enjoyable game

barely has love gems for scouting since he rarely logs in or plays

was once challenged to play a song on EX by Goshiki to see who can get the highest combo and immediately died RIP

his team’s just one R center and Ns

what were the others expecting??

really likes to listen to Mattete Ai no Uta

Semi:

best girl: Nozomi

best subunit: lily white & AZALEA tie

lowkey very competitive during events (usually top 3 out of everyone on the team)

has pretty balanced teams so he doesn’t get rekt during score matches when it comes to score tiering

saves all his seals since he prefers to wait to get another copy before idolizing

uses any scouting tickets and blue tickets right away since they usually always result in disappointment

do not use the SSR/UR or UR boxes !!! not worth it!!! (nobody listens to him)

likes the music more than the gameplay and has download a few songs to listen to

yells at Tendou when they play Nakayoshi Match together since “it’s Sentimental Steps. How can you not full combo that? You have a lot of perfect locks!”

Reon:

best girl: Eli

best subunit: Printemps

casual player and likes to play to relax

can get a bit competitive during certain events but usually just chills and tries to get the first copy of the event SR

pretty lucky when it comes to scouting; has yet to get a 1SR pull

somehow managed to always get 1 UR from a birthday step up scout

best girl blesses his account and he has all her smile URs

OP smile team b/c of ^

everyone relies on him carrying them to SS rank during Nakayoshi Match when it’s a score challenge

kind of wants to attend an actual concert one day if he ever had the money for it and someone would go with him

likes majority of the songs, events, cards, and the game in general

Tendou:

best girl: Mari

best subunit: Guilty Kiss

saw the game on Top Grossing chart on the app store and downloaded it out of curiousity

didn’t expect much but actually had a lot of fun with it and kept playing it

talks to the rest of the team about it and tries to get them to play

has been playing the game the longest but has the fewest URs

has more URs of Semi’s best girl than Semi does and likes to rile him up by “reminding” him of that fact sometimes

likes to get Ushijima to scout for him since always get 1SR pulls feelsbadman

somehow managed to get enough dupes of Christmas Ruby SR to fully slot her and max her skill level

always the first to inform the others of new events

the one to start making private rooms for Nakayoshi Match and posting the code in the Shiratorizawa group chat on LINE

spams the Nico Nico Ni sticker

usually the one to not FC when it’s a combo challenge

Goshiki:

best girl: Rin

really /really/ into the game

actually reads all the stories instead of skipping to get the G and love gem

took him a few months of playing and scouting before getting his first UR

SSS’ed all songs on all the lower difficulties before moving on to trying EX songs

tried Master songs and ahahah... especially the dailies, but he’s going to keep trying!!!

is happy whenever he ranks up since more LP

enjoys all the events so far but actually likes score match even tho his ranking is garbo

gets really happy when Tendou invites him to his private Nakayoshi Match room

challenged Ushijima to an EX song and was unsatisfied when captain-san immediately died

what did he expect tho?? dude doesn’t play

tried listening to Semi and use his blue tickets on SR/UR box only but 20% lie so he’s trying to save for the UR only box

sometimes can be heard humming/singing some of the songs

Shirabu:

best girl: Maki

has the strongest and most balanced teams out of everyone on the team

bought a few of the monthly and special packs especially for the titles

on his way to becoming a whale??

very competitive during events but doesn’t let it show

always only plays after practice and when he’s done all his homework

if a teammate is #1 on friend ranking list, he likes to wait until they’ve gone to bed and then play a whole bunch so he’ll be ahead of them

probably rank 200+ from grinding token events

internally ticked off at whoever broke combo/got a shitty score for Nakayoshi Match (usually @ Tendou)

won’t admit that he actually likes the game

token events + osanpo rally are his fav just because of 4x multiplier

Shocking Party is his bff

blessed with scorers which makes his teams even more OP

only friends people ingame that have centers that benefit him

Taichi:

best girl: Umi

either very casual and just logs in, empties LP and is done, or spends hours playing (usually during events if he cares)

medfest + osanpo rally = snoozefest

has actually fallen asleep while playing before RIP LP

forgot a few times that he’s actually on the second song for medfest, gets distracted, and is then greeted with a failed live screen

usually doesn’t join Tendou’s private rooms for Nakayoshi Match b/c he just doesn’t feel like it (Tendou always asks him about it afterwards)

blows his N stickers on blue tickets asap

tries to save up to 25 for guaranteed UR but is usually tempted by the SSR/UR box

has never gotten a UR from BTs

his cool team is his strongest team and usually carries him into T1 song rankings, except for score match b/c RIP mmr

likes to solo yolo a bit too much and usually regrets it afterwards

Yamagata:

best girl: Kanan

tries to spend his LP when he can but often forgets and when he loses his phone... RIP

can get competitive during chafest since #bestevent but otherwise just plays as much as he can

messages Goshiki in game to cheer him on when he’s trying to be first during the event out of everyone on the team

also usually doesn’t join Tendou’s private rooms for Nakayoshi Match, mostly because he doesn’t check LINE until way afterwards

has all the BDs of the Lives (μ’s + Aqours) and likes to rewatch them

learns the dance moves they teach and dances along with them, if he’s alone...

likes to scout in limited boxes b/c rate up is a lie

has at least 1 UR for each of his teams

pure team is best team

trying to make a full team of best girl but she won’t come home

[mag--pie]

Happy Birthday Kotori

Kotori Birthday Fic Under Cut

"Kotori I must have a word with you!” Kotori stared at the blue haired girl as Umi stormed down the hallway to. “What is it?” Umi’s face flushed,”This skirt! Its so… indecent! How can you make us wear this?” “Really?” Kotori placed a finger on her chin,”It doesn’t look short to me?” “But-“ “Umi can you wear it?” “Its so-“ “Umi please,” Kotori’s eyes teared up as she stared at Umi. “Fine…” A new voice was heard behind Kotori,”Damn shes whipped.” “Nozomi!” Nozomi giggled,”Anyways, I need help with something. Kotori can you come with me?” “Sure!” Nozomi looked back at Umi and took her phone out. Moments later, Umi received a strange message. Nozomi Tojo[1:34 P.M.] kotori birthday i stall meet at clubroom Umi Sonoda[1:34 P.M.] Alright, text me the details. Nozomi Tojo[1:35 P.M.] ill do it later kotori is right next to me Umi shoved her phone into her bag and began walking to the clubroom. Umi thought about the present she would give to the ash haired girl. She decided to wait till the end of the day so it would be more private. Umi neared the clubroom after a few minutes. Upon entering, she was met with a strange scene. Nico was passed out on the table with Hanayo and Rin next to her. Hanayo seemed like she was on the verge of tears and Rin was laughing to the point of crying. “What happened here?” Hanayo panicked,”N-Nico was trying to put up a banner but fell off and hit the table! She passed out..” Rin tried to say something but couldn’t because of her laughing. Umi shook her head as she tried to wake up the third year. “What the fuck happened?” “Nico language."

“Oh shit I fell!” “Nico language.” “Don’t get your panties in a twist. But we still need to set up for Kotori’s birthday.” Umi looked around the room. The banner Nico was supposed to hand up was on the floor and the floor had confetti scattered all over it. Umi grabbed a broom and dustpan then shoved it into Rin’s hands. “Rin, you clean up. Nico… go get some snacks or something. Hanayo, can you get some decorations?” Rin saluted,”Nyalright!” Hanayo nodded her head and ran out the clubroom while Nico walked out following the first year. Umi felt her phone buzz against her leg and checked it. The message was from Honoka. Honoka Kousaka[3:46 P.M.] hey umi letting u know kotori might be there in like idk 30-40 min Umi Sonoda[3:46 P.M.] Stall her please. Nico and Hanayo are out getting stuff and Rin is cleaning up. Honoka Kousaka[3:47 P.M.] ill try and stall Honoka Kousaka[3:47 P.M.] maybe get u an hour at most? Umi Sonoda[3:47 P.M.] Thanks. Umi grabbed the banner from Rin and used a chair to pin it up on the wall. Using the confetti Rin gathered, Umi placed piles of it on the table. In the center of each confetti pile, she would place whatever Hanayo or Nico decided to bring. As if on queue, Nico walked in. She had a bag full of candies or some odd snack. “I got some stuff. I don’t really know if this’ll be fine.” Umi shook her head,”Its fine, I’ll use them to put in the middle of those.” She pointed at the confetti piles. “Kayochin should be getting here soon,” Rin said waving her phone around. Soon enough, Hanayo walked into the room with decorations. She even went as far as to grab a cake knowing Nico wouldn’t want to carry so many things. Umi shuffled through the decorations. Umi began,”Nico blow up these balloons and then tape them to the corners and Hanayo, can you just start putting some ribbon up?” Nico glared at Umi,”You’re so nice to Hanayo.” “Stop being a little bitch.”

“Umi language.” They set everything up and when it was five minutes before Kotori would arrive, everyone but Honoka and Kotori were there. Umi dimmed the lights and prepared to light the candles. Later, Honoka walked in with a blindfolded Kotori. Umi lighted the candles on the cake and Honoka tore off Kotori’s blindfold. Kotori’s eyes widened “Happy birthday Kotori!” the members of μ’s said in unison. “T-Thank you everyone!” “Lets start opening your presents!” Rin said. Everyone began to give Kotori their presents. There were fairly normal ones like a portable sewing kit from Eli to the more strange ones like one of those useless boxes from Honoka. Umi handed her gift over to Kotori last. Kotori opened it. “Umi, its great!” Umi had gifted Kotori a picture frame that she had made. The photo in the middle was a collage of all their friends and group photos. The one in the middle was the most special to everyone in their group. It was a photo of all of them in front the school when the group finally had nine members. “Happy birthday Kotori.” The members of μ’s spent the rest of the day celebrating Kotori’s birthday.

[master-thief-gray-shadow]

Strawberry Kisses

Summary: Nico gets a box of pocky for her birthday and gets kissed a lot.

Notes: Written on short notice, I’m not sure if this is even worthy of being a birthday present for Nico. But at least I wrote something for her.

“Is this…all for me?”

Nico gaped at the enormous box-no, small crate of strawberry pocky in front of her. Disbelievingly she picked up one of the smaller boxes inside, scrutinizing the label and shaking it as if to ensure that this wasn’t some elaborate and mean-spirited prank. Finally she opened the box and tore into the foil packaging inside it, gasping she saw that yes, this was a box of real strawberry pocky.

“Yep,” Honoka said cheerfully. She and the rest of μ’s looked on amusedly as Nico quickly shoved several sticks into her mouth one after another. “We all chipped in to get it for you.”

“Fank you!” Nico said through a mouthful of pocky.

Umi coughed. “Nico, while I appreciate your gratitude, would it be too much for you to eat your pocky like a normal person?” Several other members were staring awkwardly, as if silently agreeing.

“Hmph. Who are you to tell the great idol Nico-Ni how she should enjoy her birthday present?” Nico said. Nonetheless, she took a single stick from the box and stuck it in her mouth, holding it between her lips like a cigarette. She folded her arms and leaned back into her chair, sighing in contentment.

“Well,” Eli said, standing up, “we should all get to class. How about we meet up somewhere after practice?”

There were murmurs of agreement as people began to exit the clubroom. Nico simply opted to lift the crate (with considerable effort) and put it off to the side somewhere. “I’ll be saving you for later,” She said, patting it gently. She got up and turned around to find that Honoka was still in the clubroom.

“Honoka?” She asked. “Hey, don’t you have a class to get to or something?”

“Yeah,” Honoka said. “But I wanted to give you my present first.”

“You just did though,” Nico said, her eyebrows arching. “That’s what this whole sudden meeting was about, right?”

Honoka got up from her seat. “No,” She said, walking over to Nico, “I mean I want to give you a special present.” By now she was extremely close, and Nico could feel the blood flowing to her face.

“Hey, uh, Honoka? What’s going on?” She said nervously.

“Hold still for a sec,” Honoka said before leaning down. Nico’s heart nearly stopped when Honoka took the other end of the stick of pocky into her mouth.

“Honoka…” Nico said dumbly as Honoka began to slowly nibble at the pocky. Her body seemed to have frozen up, she could only just stare as Honoka’s face moved closer and closer to her own. She started to feel somewhat hot, possibly in anticipation of the inevitable result of this game she hadn’t planned on playing. She could feel Honoka’s breath on her now, soft and sweet, and it sent a shudder through her body. She examined Honoka’s face as it slowly got closer, the way her closed eyes made her look so serene, how those delicious-looking lips inched their way along the treat towards her own, hey, were those freckles on Honoka’s cheeks? Holy shit, she never noticed those before, how had she not noticed them sooner? They were absolutely ador-

Nico was snapped out of her reverie by the feeling of a pair of lips pressed against her own. She blushed deeply. Wow, Honoka’s lips were really soft! Almost like velvet! And so warm too! She sighed into the kiss and tried to press deeper, but unfortunately Honoka chose this particular time to pull away. Nico almost whined, her lips feeling cold at the loss. Honoka just flashed a dazzling smile at her.

“Happy birthday, Nico-chan!” Honoka said brightly before turning around and leaving the clubroom. Nico stood for a moment in stunned silence, touching her lips and totally unbelieving of what just happened. She took a minute to calm her erratic heartbeat before taking another stick of pocky and putting it between her lips.

Nico exited the clubroom in a daze, closing the door and then leaning back on it. Her mind drifted back to the kiss, how nice Honoka’s lips felt and how goddamn cute she was. She only had a moment to reflect, though, because she was almost immediately tackled by something small, fast, and orange. Nico flinched as she felt Rin squeeze her in a tight hug.

“Nya! Happy birthday, Nico-chan!” Rin said as she nuzzled Nico’s cheek.

“H-hey there, Rin,” Nico said nervously, trying to struggle her way out of Rin’s grasp. Rin pulled back slightly and looked at Nico, her signature catlike grin spread across her face.

“What were you doing in there with Honoka, nya?” Rin asked loosening her grip on Nico. But only slightly.

“Nothing,” Nico said, finally managing to pry Rin off of her.

“Why was she eating your pocky?”

A red tint creeped into Nico’s face. “You saw that?” She said

“Some of it,” Rin said. “Kayo-chin dragged me away though. But what were you doing?”

“She was…giving me my birthday present,” Nico said, small beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

“Oh!” Rin beamed before reaching up to grab Nico’s face. “Rin wants to give you a birthday present too!” Nico only just managed to guess what the hell was going on when Rin opened her mouth wide. Nico shut her eyes tightly in preparation for a very clumsy kiss…and felt nothing. She cracked open to find half the stick in her mouth gone, which was presumably what Rin was so happily chewing on. Nico sighed. Well, at least she wasn’t getting kissed in the hall where anyone could see her.

“Rin-chan, no!” Nico and Rin both looked over to see Hanayo running towards them. She grabbed Rin by the shoulders, pulling her away from Nico. Hanayo, you are officially my hero, Nico thought. “What are you doing?”

“Giving Nico a birthday present, nya.”

“Rin-chan…” Hanayo gave a long sigh. “That’s not how you play the pocky game.” Nico tensed. Wasn’t Hanayo supposed to save her? What was going on? “I’ll show you how to play, watch this.” Nico began to sweat more as Hanayo moved closer, putting her hands on Nico’s shoulders. Nico began to panic. I take it back! Not my hero! Not my hero!

Hanayo pressed closer, a light pink tint covering her cheeks. Nico screwed her eyes shut. It was one thing when Honoka was doing something like this in the privacy of the clubroom, but now she was out in the hall, with Rin and who even knows who else watching her. Nico could feel Hanayo’s face getting even closer, and braced herself. She felt herself heating up in anticipation, and as annoyed as she was by the whole situation, it was kind of exciting. A span of time that couldn’t have been more than two seconds felt like an eternity as she waited to feel Hanayo’s lips against her own. Her breath was caught in her throat. There was a quick brush of something soft and warm against her lips, and then there was nothing.

Wait, was that it?

Nico cracked an eye open. “See, Rin-chan?” Hanayo said. “That’s how you play the pocky game.”

Rin’s eyes sparkled in awe. “I see!” She said. “Can I try again?”

“Um…no,” Nico said, hurriedly moving from her spot against the door. “I…uh…have to get to class. I’ll see you after school, or something.” She spun around and took off toward her classroom at full speed. Why won’t anybody let me eat my damn pocky in peace?

Class had been agonizing. It had been harder than usual for Nico to concentrate because she swore that Nozomi kept making rather sultry expressions at her. What was with everyone today? When had it been declared that today was National Flirt with Nico Day? Well, okay, that should be every day, but she would have appreciated a more gradual transition. Nico sighed as she splashed some water on her face, looking into her own tired expression in the mirror as she took out another stick of pocky and stuck it in her mouth. Turning to leave the bathroom, Nico didn’t bat an eye as the door opened. She bristled as a familiar redhead stepped in.

“M-Maki-chan?” Nico said. “What are you doing in here?”

“Hiding a dead body, obviously,” Maki said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Despite her harsh tone Nico couldn’t help but notice the light blush on her face. Nico’s eyes narrowed.

“What’s got you so embarassed? Nervous about being alone in the girl’s room with Nico?” Nico immediately regretted speaking in such a challenging tone. Maki’s blush deepened.

“Wh-why would I be nervous about being alone with you? If anything, you’re the nervous one!” Shoot, she had Nico there. A small bead of sweat ran down the side of Nico’s face as her blush deepened. Maki stepped forward, seemingly strengthened by Nico’s display of weakness. She soon towered over her, and Nico could feel her knees beginning to shake. “I’ll give you a reason to be intimidated by me,” She said. She leaned forward and took the other end of the stick of pocky into her mouth. Oh no, not again, Nico thought.

Maki nibbled slowly on the pocky, the blush on her face growing in intensity the closer she got to Nico. Nico could also see the beads of sweat on her forehead, and the way her lips trembled even as they inched their way along the treat. It was actually pretty cute, as far as Nico was concerned. Maki also had some nice-looking lips, shapely and kissable and right in front of her. Okay, maybe kissing Maki would be pretty nice, and she was already halfway there. Just a few more inches and…wait. Why was she stopping?

Maki’s face and hair were about the same color at this point, her skin was slick with sweat and her eyes were screwed shut. She just lingered there, not moving, and Nico could feel her heavy breathing on her face. What’s she waiting for? After what seemed like an eternity, Maki quickly pulled away, leaning against the sink and panting heavily. Nico scowled.

“Is that it?” Nico said, chomping up the rest of the stick. Well, at least I’m getting an indirect kiss. “Am I supposed to be intimidated by someone who doesn’t even have the guts to kiss me?”

Maki’s breathing began to steady itself. She looked up at her own reflection, wiping sweat from her brow and taking one last gulp of air before turning to face Nico again. Her eyes, their color slightly darkened, met Nico’s, and for a moment they just stared at each other. Then, before Nico could even tell what was going on, Maki had grabbed her face and pressed her lips against hers. Nico yelped in surprise, Maki’s soft lips pressed against her own sending shivers throughout her body. She was just about ready to melt into the kiss when Maki broke it, standing up straight and coughing into her fist.

“I’ve got plenty of guts, Nico-chan,” She said before disappearing into one of the stalls. Nico just stood there, desperately trying to catch her breath.

Nico’s face still had a pink tinge to it by the time she made it back to class. Sighing, she shuffled over to her seat and sat down. She buried her face in her arms and grumbled. Nozomi gave her an amused smile.

“Oh my, Nicocchi,” Nozomi whispered. “Did something happen while you were in there?”

Nico didn’t even look up. “No. Shut up.”

“Who was it with and how far did ya go?”

This time Nico did look up. “I said shut up,” She said, sending a hard glare in Nozomi’s direction. She rested her head on her hands and sighed again, barely paying attention to the teacher as they droned on and on about…something. She didn’t know, and she sure as hell didn’t care. It was too hot to focus on the subject anyway. Her bangs were starting to stick to her face. She quietly turned to look at Nozomi. Her breath caught in her throat.

Was Nozomi…undoing her ribbon? In class? Nico swallowed hard before glancing quickly around the classroom. She almost sighed in relief when she saw that nobody had seemed to notice, but she didn’t want to make any noise. She’d only draw attention to herself. Or Nozomi, who seemed to have the top button of her shirt undone. Nico swallowed again.

Nozomi was a tease. It was in her very nature, and Nico was pretty used to being on the receiving end of her teasing by now. But the fact that Nozomi was doing this now, in the middle of class, on a balmy July afternoon where Nico happened to be sitting in the sunniest part of the classroom, on a day where everyone else was trying to have her way with her, just seemed way to ridiculous to even be real. Nico held her breath as she watched Nozomi undo another one of her buttons, leaving the tiniest amount of cleavage exposed. Unconsciously she wiped some sweat away from her forehead, feeling way too hot to deal with anything, especially Nozomi’s craziness and whatever the teacher was going on about now. Class really couldn’t end soon enough.

Finally, the school bell rang, and Nico let out a breath she might have been holding for the entire class. Students began to pour out of the classroom, eager to start summer vacation, but Nico just sat at her desk, panting hard and trying to dry her sweat-dampened skin. Groaning, she turned to see Nozomi still sitting at her desk, and oh god was she undoing another button? Nico slammed her head down on her desk. She was going to die here.

“Heya Nicocchi,” Nozomi said, getting up and moving over towards Nico’s desk. “Did ya like the present we got ya?”

Nico tensed slightly. Given her other experiences with the pocky that day, the fact that Nozomi, who had just spent the entirety of class teasing her, was asking about it was setting off a few red flags. Nico let out a long sigh. “Yeah, it’s great,” She said tiredly. Nozomi smiled innocently. Oh come on, you know I know you’re gonna do something naughty.

“Well, I hope it’s not too much to ask, but could I have one?” Okay, Nozomi was definitely planning something. Nico sat up and looked Nozomi straight in the eye.

“Button up your shirt and maybe I’ll think about it,” She said with a sneer.

Nozomi put a hand over her heart in mock offense. “But it’s so hot in here! I gotta keep cool somehow, ya know?” Well it was definitely hot. Nico almost would have fallen for it if she wasn’t so certain of the real reason. “C'mon, Nicocchi…please let me have just one.” Was Nozomi doing puppy dog eyes? Really? More pressingly, why was it working? Must be the damn heat. Nico sighed as she reached into her bag and pulled out the box, taking out a single stick and holding it out to Nozomi. “Thanks, Nicocchi,” She said, taking the pocky.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re wel…come…” Nico watched as Nozomi leaned back, lifted the treat up to her mouth, and dropped it. Goddammit, I’m such an idiot, she thought as the pocky somehow landed perfectly in Nozomi’s exposed cleavage.

“Oops,” Said Nozomi. Nico was almost certain that what had just unfolded was no accident.

“Get that stuff out of your boobs,” Nico said, looking away.

“Oh, but Nicocchi,” Nozomi said, leaning towards her, those damn boobs now dangerously close to her face, “I think you should get it out, since yer the birthday girl and all.”

“Hell. No.” Nico began to sweat even more as Nozomi pressed closer. She felt like she was suffocating. Also, wow, this was really tempting. Strawberry pocky and Nozomi’s boobs. Only drawback was that Nozomi would have the smug satisfaction of humiliating her. Nico glanced at Nozomi through her peripheral vision. She swore she saw the cream on the pocky melting, spreading across Nozomi’s creamy skin and mixing with her sweat. Nico swore her mouth was starting to water.

“C'mon, Nicocchi,” Nozomi cooed, “I know ya really wanna do it. It’s all over yer face.”

Nico swallowed before looking at Nozomi’s face. “Don’t tell anybody, okay?”

“Of course, Nicocchi,” Nozomi said, smiling. “Now dig in.”

Nico leaned forward slowly, clenching her eyes shut as she got closer and closer to the protruding treat. She gently took it between her teeth, gradually pulling it free from the place where it had been trapped. She inhaled, taking in the scent of melted strawberry cream and sweat. She started to nibble on the stick, figuring that it wasn’t good to waste a gift anyway. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she had finished the stick. Great. She was done with this torment. “Move your tits, Nozomi.”

“But Nicocchi, there’s a big mess there. Are ya sure ya don’t want to clean it up?”

Nico shoved her way past Nozomi and stood up. “Get yourself a damn napkin. I’m done dealing with you.”

Nozomi gasped, although her gleaming eyes gave away the fact that it wasn’t at all genuine. “How cruel!” She said.

“I hate you, Nozomi,” Nico said as she grabbed her bag and prepared to leave.

“I love ya too, Nicocchi,” Nozomi said with a teasing smirk. Nico just scoffed before hurrying out of the room.

Nico absentmindedly munched on another stick of pocky as she walked through the halls toward the clubroom. Maybe if she was the first one there she could get some much needed peace and quiet. She didn’t feel like doing lewd things with anyone else today. She sighed deeply before opening the door, and nearly freaked out when she saw that she hadn’t been the first to get there.

“Hi, Nico-chan,” Kotori said. Nico grumbled before sitting down. “Is something wrong?” She asked.

Nico just sat down next to Kotori and began to rub her temples. “I’ve just had an…interesting day,” She said.

“Really?” Kotori asked, moving closer. “How so?”

“Everybody seems to want my pocky,” Nico said. “I don’t mind sharing, but they all seem to want to take it straight my mouth.”

“Wow, really?” Kotori seemed genuinely interested. “So have you been playing the pocky game with people?” Nico nodded. Kotori leaned in. “Who?”

“It’s not any of your business who I’ve been kissing,” Nico snapped.

Kotori just smiled. “That’s fair,” She said, leaning towards Nico. “You are very cute, though.”

“Well of course!” Nico said. “It’s only natural that people would want to kiss the great idol Ni-hey, aren’t you a little close?” Kotori was indeed very close now, the treat between Nico’s lips reaching hers. “Whoa, don’t tell me you wanna play too?!”

Nico shivered as Kotori leaned closer, their faces way too close for comfort. “You know,” Kotori said, taking the end of the stick of pocky between her fingers, “I do like sweets.” She caressed Nico’s jaw with her other hand, her lips now dangerously close. “But I think I’m more in the mood for you today.” She gently took the pocky from Nico’s mouth and tossed it aside before grabbing her face and slamming their lips together. Nico pressed her lips tightly together, trying desperately to protect her mouth from Kotori’s probing tongue, but she almost felt like the kiss was weakening her. It didn’t take long for Kotori to slide her tongue into Nico’s mouth, where it rubbed against Nico’s own, flailing aimlessly as she began to lose herself. Nico could feel a small amount of heat pooling between her legs, her breath being stolen from her as Kotori somehow managed to deepen the kiss even more. Finally she pulled away, leaving Nico a panting, semi-aroused mess.

“You are so cute,” She said, beaming. Nico was too winded to respond.

“What are you looking at?”

Eli lowered her head and began looking over the form she was holding. Nico narrowed her eyes, nibbling on the pocky in her mouth. It was clear as daylight that Eli was not focused on the paper in front of her, and something else had her attention. Her eyes flitted back and forth between the form and…something. Something on Nico’s face. It took Nico only a little longer to figure it out.

“You want my pocky don’t you?” She asked accusingly. “You specifically want the pocky in my mouth!” Eli said nothing, but she did blush a little. “Answer me!”

This time Eli’s eyes were focused on the paper in front of her. “…Maybe,” She said almost inaudibly.

“What is with everyone today?” Nico said, throwing her hands up. “Why do you all want to kiss me?”

“Well, maybe because you’re pretty kissable,” Eli said, again almost inaudibly. Nico heard her, though. A small blush creeped over her features.

“What was that?” She said, walking over to Eli and leaning in so that their faces were rather close. Eli again said nothing, but her eyes drifted to the stick of pocky. Nico noticed a little too late as Eli gently grabbed the side of her face. “Hey, what’s going on?” In truth Nico knew exactly what was going on.

“Sorry Nico,” Eli said, “but I just can’t resist.” Eli’s lips wrapped around the other end and she began to rather quickly nibble her way towards Nico. Nico braced herself. Eli was more than halfway to her lips, their breaths starting to mix together. She shut her eyes and waited, her legs trembling and sweat sliding down her face. Eli seemed to be taking forever to reach her, and it was driving her insane. Nico then felt something soft brush against her lips, and a tongue very briefly slipped into her mouth, before pulling away and leaving her lips rather cold. Nico opened her eyes to see Eli running her tongue over her own lips.

“ Harasho ,” Eli said, smiling. “That was pretty good. You don’t think I could have another, could I?”

Nico threw a stick of pocky at Eli before leaving.

“Ah, hello Nico.”

Nico turned around and felt her heart nearly leap out of her chest as she saw the one person she had wanted to run into today. Umi was standing there, smiling softly, and Nico could no longer help herself. She ran at Umi, wrapping her in a tight hug and burying her face in her shirt.

“Um…” Umi looked down as Nico continued to hug her chest, a small blush on her face. “Are you alright?”

Nico looked up. “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to see you today,” She said.

Nico eventually let go of Umi, and together they found themselves sitting under a tree, relaxing and making idle chatter. Nico found herself feeling more comfortable than she had all day, sitting beside Umi and talking about μ’s and plans for the summer. In her security she reached into her bag and pulled out the box of pocky, now almost empty. Umi noticed.

“May I have one?” She said. Nico paused and studied Umi’s face. Her expression was calm and pleasant, there wasn’t a hint of mischief anywhere on it. And why would there be? Umi wasn’t one to play tricks, her true intentions always seemed to be out in the open. Not that Nico didn’t like the idea of Umi tricking her into playing the pocky game, but it was refreshing to hang out with someone who wasn’t hellbent on doing that with her today.

“Sure,” She said, holding out the box. Umi smiled and gave a quiet ‘thank you’ before taking one and putting it between her lips. Nico smiled back before taking the last stick for herself, munching it down relatively quickly. She looked back at Umi to see that she seemed to be taking her time enjoying the treat, having barely started eating it. An idea formed in Nico’s mind. She moved a little closer.

“Nico?” Umi noticed immediately. Nico gave a wide smile.

“Just wanted to be a little closer to you,” Nico said. Umi nodded and said nothing. Nico took that as her cue to move even closer. Soon enough their shoulders were touching, and Nico decided to gently lean on Umi. She was warm. Nico could feel a slight blush creeping up her face. She looked over at Umi, whose face seemed so calm, so serene, so beautiful. Nico leaned closer, reaching up to put a hand on Umi’s face.

“H-hey, Nico?” Umi said as Nico’s face came closer to hers. “What are you doing?”

Nico stroked Umi’s cheek. “For some reason, everyone wants to kiss me today,” She said in a low voice. “Most of them were surprisingly good. Most of them.” The stick of pocky brushed against her lips, and she could almost taste the strawberry cream coating it. “But the only person I really want to kiss me today…” She took her other hand and placed it on Umi’s other cheek, feeling the warmth of her skin as a luminescent blush covered her face. “…is you.”

Nico began to slowly nibble along the stick, watching Umi’s flustered expression through half-lidded eyes. Her face was so red now, and sweatdrops were quickly forming on her brow. Whether they were from being flustered or from the heat, Nico wasn’t sure, but it certainly helped with making Umi’s face look absolutely adorable. Umi was visibly shaking, but she didn’t seem to be pulling away, much to Nico’s relief. She was about halfway there now, those lips so often curled into a scowl, now trembling so delicately, getting closer with each passing second. Nico closed her eyes. It was better to do these final steps that way.

Nico picked up speed, wanting to reach those lips as soon as possible, and she could also feel Umi’s hot breath on her now. It was kind of exhilarating. She knew she was close, but she wasn’t there yet, she still had a little ways to go. Only a few long seconds passed, before finally, finally, their lips touched. It was slow and gentle at first, just a simple touch, then Nico took Umi’s bottom lip in between hers, sucking lightly. Umi, surprisingly, didn’t seem to mind, instead leaning into the kiss as if she wanted more. Nico was more than happy to give her more. She ran her tongue along Umi’s lips, sliding it between them for only a brief second. They pulled apart, gazing at each other with lidded eyes, before coming together again. For a span of time neither of them cared to measure they kept doing this, kissing and separating, and both felt like they could probably do this forever.

“Whoa, you guys are really into it!” Was that…Honoka?

The two quickly pulled apart to see the rest of μ’s had shown up, somehow. “When did you guys get here?” Nico said in a slightly panicked voice.

“We haven’t been here too long,” Nozomi said, “but we did see ya almost put yer tongue in Umi’s mouth. Nice work, Nicocchi.”

Nico blushed deeply as Umi buried her face in her hands and muttered about shamelessness. Eli just chuckled softly. “Well, you two will have plenty of time for makeout sessions later. How about we go get some ice cream to celebrate?” There were several cheers, and Nico smiled softly as she and Umi got up and joined the others as they exited the school gates. There was a warmth in Nico’s chest as they walked, and it seemed to bubble with each passing moment.

“Y'know, I’m only gonna say this once,” She said. Everyone turned to her, curious to hear what she had to say. “I love all of you,” She said, tears forming. She wiped them before continuing. “You’re all so important to me, I…I don’t know what I’d do without you guys.” Tears of joy began pouring from her eyes, and she soon found herself in the embrace of several people.

“We love you too Nico-chan!” Rin said, nuzzling her.

“We all love you very much,” Kotori said, stroking her hair.

“Thanks, you guys,” Nico said through her tears. “Thank you so much.”

“No problem,” Honoka said cheerily. “After all, you deserve the best birthday ever!”

[whoneedsapublisher]

Gifts

Day four of femslash february, the prompt is "Colourful". More NozoNico.

Words: ~700

Summary: Nozomi got a lot more gifts than usual this year. She's a little bit overwhelmed by it all.

Also on Ao3

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Ever since μ’s had found success, Nozomi had started getting a lot more presents for her birthday.

Before that, she’d gotten two presents every year. One from her parents, and one from Eli.

Her gift from her parents always came in a white box with a card. Honestly, a lot of years, it wasn’t actually something she’d wanted. But it was never something lazy, or picked at random. Every year, they really did try to get her something that she would like. Even if it was something she’d stopped being interested in two years ago, or something that they’d heard people her age liked, it was always an earnest attempt to make her happy. And so she treasured each of those gifts, even if that just meant putting it on a shelf and never using it.

Eli’s gifts were different. They always came in a neat little package with blue wrapping paper, and they were always something she wanted. A cute accessory, or a new blouse, or a book of some kind, it was always something that Nozomi was happy with when she’d unwrapped it.

And so every birthday she’d have those two gifts, a white box and something wrapped in blue.

Now, though, her table looked so much more colourful.

There were gifts from fans, now, which was odd enough, all kinds of boxes and bags with different kinds of wrapping and packaging. But there were more gifts from friends, too. Honoka’s gift, wrapped terribly with a bright red bow and yellow and orange striped wrapping paper. Hanayo’s gift, wrapped in delicate pastel tissue paper. Rin’s gift, in a surprisingly mature looking jet black box with a tasteful gold ribbon. Maki’s gift, looking at disturbing expensive as you’d expect from an heiress. Kotori’s gift, trimmed with lace and just as cute as the clothes she made. Umi’s gift, in a utilitarian but still nice looking perfectly rectangular box, wrapped to achingly precise perfection in blue wrapping paper, much darker than Eli’s.

And lastly, Nico’s gift.

Nozomi had saved that one for last when she opened them. Of course, Nico had complained about that, but it despite Nozomi’s teasing, it wasn’t because she was snubbing Nico. It was because it was what she was looking forward to most of all. It was wrapped in bold, striking red wrapping paper with swirls of pink. Nico boasted that she’d picked it out specially as “befitting a gift between idols”. Maki had joked that it would be just like Nico to put more effort into the wrapping paper than the gift itself, but when Nozomi carefully unfolded the wrapping paper and opened the box inside, she found that Maki couldn’t have been more wrong.

It was a bracelet. The band was made of silver, thin and elegant with a twisting design to it. And attached to it were three charms. All of them handmade. The first was a tiny tarot card, and on closer inspection it was from the deck she always used, the design of the back painstakingly copied. The front was The Star, one of the cards she’d used when talking about μ’s. The second was μ’s logo, the greek letter complete with the English apostrophe and letter s. And the third was…

“Did you seriously give her a charm of your stupid hand sign?” Maki said incredulously.

“Hey! It’s a reminder of her group mate, thank you! And it’s basically like a symbol of μ’s, right?”

“No!”

“Niccochi,” Nozomi said. Oh, no, her voice was trembling. She couldn’t keep her composure… “Thank you. I love it.”

She held it tightly to her chest.

How long had it taken for Nico to make this? How many tries had it taken to get all the tiny details of the tarot card right? To make sure the μ’s logo stuck together properly without ruining the look of it? How much effort had Nico put into making this gift special, and so perfectly tailored for Nozomi?

“Really… thank you all… so much…” she managed, trying fruitlessly to wipe away the tears from her eyes.

Her friends smiled at her. Her wonderful, loving friends. And Nico, someone who was a little more than that.

“Happy birthday, Nozomi,” Nico said. “Thank you for being born.”

Nozomi had never been more thankful for that herself than in that moment.

[ryqoshay]

How to Handle a Nico: Nineteen and a Day

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~3.8k Rating: K? Time Frame: Very early in Maki’s 1st and Nico’s 3rd year in college Story Arc: "Nineteenth” Nineteenth Nineteen and a Day Twin-Tailed Laundry Service

List of all HtHaN scenes

Author’s Note: I cannot help feeling that it is a bit ironic to post a scene that involves a belated birthday celebration on the actual day of said birthday. I mean I know I posted the scene for the birthday itself a week ago, but that was mostly because I had hit a wall with what I wanted this scene to be; I had intended them to be one chapter initially. I figured I had plenty of time to figure things out and if I was late by a bit, that was fine because it would fit the topic. But here I am posting it on Maki’s birthday anyway. Que zura, zura.

A strange and unexpected sound cut through fading dreams to Maki’s consciousness. The metallic noise came again and she opened her eyes.

“Nico-chan?” The redhead murmured as her vision slowly focused on a raven-haired girl over by her desk.

“Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” Nico turned with an apologetic smile. “G’morning, sleepyhead.”

“What are you…?” Maki was interrupted by a yawn.

“Cleaning up after a useless bachelorette who can’t do so herself, obviously.” The older girl tossed another energy drink can into the bag she was holding.

“I… I…” The younger girl struggled for an answer; any answer.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, you’ve been busy studying.” Nico made a dismissive motion with her free hand. “And you’ve been sick, so I’m happy to help you out this time. But you’re not living with your parents anymore; you don’t have a crew of housekeepers to take care of this kind of stuff for you. So, you’ll have to eventually do it yourself.”

“… Sorry…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Nico laughed. “As I told Maki-chan last night, Nico is here now, so let her help out a bit, alright?”

“Also sorry… for uhm…”

“Mmm?”

Maki averted her gaze. “For making you stay… with me… last night…”

Nico sighed. “Maki.” She said firmly, causing the other girl to look back up. “You don’t have to apologize about that kind of thing. Nico doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do. Maki-chan should know that by now.” Her voice softened again as she continued. “Besides, it helped you sleep better, right?”

Maki nodded slowly.

“Good.”

“I just… don’t want you to get sick as well…”

“I’ll be fine. Probably. Don’t worry about it.” Nico shrugged before smirking as an idea came to her. “If Nico gets sick, then Maki-chan will have to pay her back by taking care of her.”

“A-alright…”

“But, you know, Maki-chan wa~s pretty clingy last night.”

“I… I-I was j-just cold…” Maki sputtered while blushing. “And Nico-chan is always warm, so…”

The sly smirk turned into a toothy grin. “It’s alright. Nico didn’t mind sharing her warmth.”

“T-thank you…”

“Well, your voice sounds a lot better than it did last night.” Nico observed. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired…”

“I can see that. But I mean like headaches, body aches, sore throat…” Her mind cycled through the differences between a cold and the flu, though she was pretty sure it was the flu.

The college first-year coughed.

“… or coughs.” The third-year added. “I can check for a fever in a bit if you want.” She realized she probably should have checked last night, but Maki seemed to be getting better, or at least moving in the right direction.

“… Hungry…”

“Well, you’re in luck. Nozomi just stopped by a little while ago with breakfast for us.”

“She did?”

“Though I suppose it’s more of a brunch by now…”

“Wha…?” Maki glanced at her phone to see the time.

“You were sleeping pretty soundly and we didn’t want to wake you because you obviously needed it.” Nico explained. “But, yeah, I’ve already gotten ready for the day. You know this place has some pretty decent facilities. Nico is impressed.” She smiled. “Anyway, before we eat, you should probably call, or at least message your mother.”

“Mama?”

“Yeah, she called me earlier this morning because she was worried that you hadn’t responded yet. She was willing to let it go for a while because she assumed you’d be busy with me or the others, but then this morning came and you still hadn’t gotten back to her, so…”

“I didn’t hear…” Maki picked up her phone.

“You didn’t plug it in properly, so it didn’t charge. I suppose that explains that’s why you didn’t respond to anyone yesterday when we were all trying to wish you a happy birthday. Don’t worry, though, I’ve already explained everything to them. Still, you may want to apologize to them as well.”

“I think… I’ll get the others later…” Maki thought aloud as she unlocked her phone to reply to her mother. “After breakfast so I can chat if they want.”

“Breakfast first it is.” Nico said, starting to set up. “Let me know if you need help getting over her.”

“I’m fine.” Maki slid her legs off the side of the bed.

“Alright, stubborn girl.”

Maki grumbled an unintelligible retort before shuffling, unsteadily to the table to take a seat. “Uhm…” She glanced at what was available.

“What’s up?”

“I thought there was some pasta leftover…”

“You mean what I brought last night?”

“Yeah…”

“There is some,” Nico acknowledged, “but I figured we could maybe have that for lunch. It seemed odd to have it for breakfast as well as two meals in a row.”

“Oh…” Maki’s shoulders slumped dejectedly.

“You really want the pasta that much?” Though even as Nico asked, she began to realize the reasons.

“Tomatoes have vitamin C in them…”

One reason down, sort of. Nico wondered if she could coax the other out of the often dishonest girl. “Well they do, but vitamin C is heat sensitive and most of it was probably destroyed when I made the sauce.” She explained. “What Nozomi brought here,” she made a sweeping motion with her hand to indicate the food on the table “should be better for dealing wi…”

“… And you made it…” A quite murmur cut off the older girl.

There it was. That had been surprisingly easy, though Maki’s guard had been lowered by being sick. But with all of the flu-conscious choices available, Maki wanted something Nico had made. A swell of pride filled Nico’s chest and she couldn’t help but grin.

“Well if Maki-chan insists, Nico supposes we could swap breakfast and lunch plans.” Far be it for a caretaker to ignore the request of their charge, right? “But you’ll have to wait a bit for me to heat it.”

“… That’s fine.” The younger girl nodded.

Still smiling widely, Nico retrieved the containers she had brought last night and began reheating them in the microwave. She then began repackaging the food Nozomi had brought so she could store it for the next meal. All the while, Maki sat quietly, looking like she might fall back asleep at any moment.

“Here we go!” Nico announced a few minutes later. “Round two of Nico-nii’s Super Special Birthday Pasta made just for Maki-chan!”

“Thank you…” A small smile formed on Maki’s lips.

Nico watched as the other girl brought the first forkful to her mouth, waiting to see the little indications that she was enjoying her meal. She didn’t have to wait long. Nico loved these little moments and couldn’t help thinking that she would love to see them every day. This would of course mean that she would have to cook for Maki every day. However, she had long since realized that idea appealed greatly to her. Certainly, she shared cooking duties with her roommate Nozomi now, but that was normal for friends living together, right? Also, while there was no question that she liked seeing Nozomi enjoy her cooking, and Eli, and Honoka, and Rin and… cooking for Maki was different. There was just something…

“Mmm?” Maki blinked as her eyes met Nico’s.

“N-nothing.” Nico shook her head as she returned to reality. “Sorry.” She began eating as well, still watching, though trying to be more discreet. “You know I don’t recall seeing your RA today or yesterday.” Nico mused, deciding to steer things in a different direction. “I figured that as big of a µ’s fan as she is, she’d be buzzing around, maybe even asking Nico for autographs or something.”

“She’s a fan of µ’s?” Maki tilted her head with the question. “How do you know that?”

“She’s a mod on one of the idol forums I frequent.”

“Mmm.” Maki nodded. “Anyway, she’s on vacation this week.”

“Vacation? This early in the school year?”

Maki shrugged.

“So, your RA is on vacation and your parents are on a business trip. Hrm… I guess Nico really is the o~nly one around to take care of po~or, sick li~ttle Maki-cha~n.”

“I-idiot…”

“You like it.”

“Maybe…”

Truth be told, from among the choices that had just been listed, there was no doubt in Maki’s mind that she preferred the current caregiver over the others. And though Nico had neglected to mention the possibility of Nozomi or Eli or any of the other girls, Maki felt little need to make the correction; she was fine with how things had turned out.

However, as Maki also had little intention of saying any of this out loud, she turned her attention elsewhere, to the bottle of water in front of her. This wasn’t her usual morning beverage, so she started to get up to get something else.

“What’s up?” Nico asked.

“Coffee…” The redhead responded, eyeing the device that would produce the much-needed drink.

“Nope.” The raven-haired girl shook her head.

“Huh?” Maki paused.

“Caffeine dehydrates you and that’s not good when you’re sick.” Nico explained. “And if you’re tired, you should really sleep.”

“Yeah, but I get headaches if I don’t…”

“Maki...” Nico shook her head again. “You’re way too young to be that addicted to caffeine.”

“I know, but…”

“Do you have any caffeinated tea?”

“Don’t they all have caffeine?”

“Well yeah, unless they’re decaffeinated, but some teas have more caffeine than others and most green teas tend to be on the low side and they’re pretty much all lower than coffee.”

“Oh…”

“But tea has a lot of health benefits, especially when you’re sick.”

“Coffee has some health benefits as well.”

“For stuff like possibly preventing diabetes and some other stuff, sure.” Nico conceded. “But you have the flu, not any of that other stuff.”

“But it still has more caffeine…”

“I suppose. Anyway, let’s see…” She quickly scanned the labels of the packages available. After a moment, she sighed. “Coffee it is then.” She conceded. “But I’m going to make some tea for myself if that’s alright with you.”

“Mmm…” Maki nodded.

“And I’ll make you some tea later.” The raven-haired girl added.

The redhead shrugged.

The two girls continued to debate about coffee and tea as they finished their breakfast. As Nico cleared the table of their plates, Maki retrieved her phone and opened the group chat.

NishikinoMaki: Sorry for the delay in response

NishikinoMaki: Thank you, everybody, for the birthday wishes

NyaCat: no worries maki-chan!

Rin’s response came in so quick, Maki paused in typing her next message.

NyaCat: are you feeling any better?

Maki smiled and deleted the text to replace it with a proper reply.

NishikinoMaki: I’m feeling a lot better

NishikinoMaki: Thanks, Rin

ARISEfan1: so sorry to hear that you were sick on your birthday!

ARISEfan1: but its good to know youre doing better!

NishikinoMaki: Thank you, Honoka

SpiritualPower: I heard Nicocchi took really good care of you last night, Maki-chan

Niconii: Shut up, Nozomi

Maki blushed a bit and looked up at the other girl in the room.

Nico sighed. “I swear, that girl…” She shook her head and went back to cleaning up.

LittleBirb: It’s also good to know you didn’t have to spend your birthday alone, Maki-chan

NishikinoMaki: It was nice to have some company

Elichika: Happy Birthday, belated!

NishikinoMaki: Thank you, Eli

Elichika: Since we missed you on your actual birthday, I suppose we’ll just have to celebrate later

Elichika: How does this coming weekend work for you?

Elichika: Providing you’re feeling up to it by then, of course

NishikinoMaki: That works for me

NishikinoMaki: And I’m feeling better already, to be honest

SpiritualPower: So do you want to do things here, then?

NishikinoMaki: Sounds good

SpiritualPower: Anyone else who wants to come is also welcome, of course

NyaCat: im coming!

ARISEfan1: so am i!

NyaCat: im sure kayo-chin will want to come as well

NyaCat: ill talk to her after class and have her respond here

LittleBirb: Umi-chan and I will be available

SpiritualPower: Looks like we got everyone, then

ARISEfan1: im looking forward to it

NyaCat: me too!

NyaCat: im going to give maki-chan the bestest gift this year!

Maki set down her phone as the conversation continued beyond her desire to participate. She made a mental note to check in later, but for now, she wanted to get back to studying before she depleted her already limited energy for the day. As such, she moved her books to the table before settling in. Shortly after, Nico pulled out her own books and sat down in her spot.

“I think this is the first time we’ve studied together here.” Nico commented, opening her book.

“It is.” Maki confirmed.

“I mean I know classes just started a couple of weeks ago, but…”

“It’s nice. I like it. Though I prefer studying at your place.”

Nico resisted balking at the upfront and honest admission. First, Maki had said something similar in the group chat, now she was saying so in person. And while Nico was quite happy, part of her hoped that it wasn’t just because Maki was sick that she was saying such a thing.

“Yeah…” Nico agreed after a moment. “Oh, but you know what would be even better?” She reached over to her bag and retrieved an MP3 player and a set of earbuds. “Music.” She held out one of the buds.

Maki smiled as she accepted the tiny speaker. “Whose turn is it to pick?” She asked as she slid the device in her ear.

“Uhm… I don’t remember.” Nico admitted. “But since Maki-chan isn’t feeling good, Nico is willing to let her choose.”

“Alright.” Maki agreed, found her playlist on Nico’s device and pressed Play.

“No, look…” Maki said, stretching her arm over to point at something in Nico’s textbook. They had been studying for a while now, but Maki kept finding herself distracted by the older girl taking what she felt to be far too long just to end up writing down wrong answers. “… here…” She could reach, but it didn’t make for the most comfortable of positions. She muttered something under her breath before pressing Pause on the player, pulling out her earbud and scooting out from the table. Finally, she crawled around the corner to Nico’s side.

“Maki-chan?” Nico questioned.

“Move over.”

“Uhm… alright…”

The redhead slid in beside the raven-haired girl as soon as there was room. “As I was saying…” She leaned against the other girl to get a better angle to show what she was talking about.

For her part, Nico immediately lost her concentration on her school work as her attention switched to the sensations shifting across her side. What the heck is Maki-chan doing? Her mind reeled. Certainly, Maki had become more accepting of Nico’s physical affection over the years, but she was not the initiating type. Except, in the span of a day, Maki had insisted Nico share a bed, snuggled into her and was now pressing against her while tutoring. Sure, she was sick and probably had no idea of the effect she was having on Nico, but…

“Nico-chan?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Nico tried to shove the unnecessary thoughts out of her mind, but failed utterly as the other girl brushed against her again.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I just… uhm… Do you mind repeating that?”

An expression of exasperation flashed across Maki’s face and she sighed. “Fine.” She was just about to begin her explanation again when her stomach grumbled.

Nico giggled. Maki pouted.

“Well at least your appetite is returning.” Nico commented with a smile. “That usually indicates you’re at the tail end of things.” Despite part of her wanting to stay in her current position, she stood up. “Shall I set up lunch?”

“Sure…” Was it Nico’s imagination or did Maki sound a little downhearted once she moved away?

“Sorry, we’re out of pasta.” Nico joked as she opened the fridge. “So, we just have what Nozomi brought over. H~o~w~e~v~e~r~…” she drew out the word far more than necessary, “there is one more thing Nico made for Maki-chan that we can have after lunch.”

At that announcement, there was no doubt that Maki brightened. “Alright.” The redhead replied as she cleared some space on the table.

Upon her return, Nico was tempted to take her previous place but ended up deciding she wanted more elbow room to eat and took Maki’s old place instead. No obvious objection was raised by the other girl, though Nico did note that Maki ate a lot quicker than she did during the last two meals. Also, though Maki commented verbally on the food, she displayed none of the same expressions. As if Nico wasn’t already convinced that her junior preferred her cooking over pretty much anything else, this definitely drove home the idea. And Nico was loving it.

“Done already?” Nico smiled as she watched Maki swallow her last bite.

“Mmmm.” Maki hummed an affirmative response.

“Ready for dessert?”

“Very much so.”

“Alright then, close your eyes.”

Maki raised an eyebrow.

“Clo~se you~r e~yes.” Nico repeated, more sing-songy

After a moment, Maki closed her eyes, though not before deadpanning.

She definitely must be feeling better if she’s starting to behave like that again. Nico thought as she retrieved the item. She quickly removed it from its container and set it on the table.

“OK, you can open your eyes now.”

“Nico-chan…” Maki breathed. “It’s…”

“Happy belated birthday, Maki-chan!” Nico cheered.

“It’s so…” The redhead continued to marvel at the cake before her.

It was by no means the most extravagant dessert ever crafted, but the dark pink candy stars scattered across a dusky-colored frosting brought back memories. Taking center stage on top, her name and birthday greeting were expertly emblazoned in scarlet.

“Adorable, huh?” the raven-haired girl beamed.

“Amazing.”

“Not bad for a rush job, right?”

“Huh?” Maki blinked.

“I thought I would have more time, but since I ended up coming over here instead, that didn’t work out.” Nico explained. “Also, Nozomi helped. A bit. But it was still mostly me. Anyway, pose for me, Maki-chan.” She whipped out her phone.

“Buweeehh?”

“Perfect!”

Click!

“N-Nico-chan!” Maki protested as red dusted her cheeks.

Click!

“Lean down a bit, Maki-chan. I want to get the cake in at least one of these shots.”

“Mohhh…” Despite her tone, Maki leaned forward, placed her elbows on the table behind the cake and propped her chin her hands.

“Just like that, good.” Nico reclined back to get a better angle. “Smile! …  Close enough…”

Click!

“Hee… Thanks, Maki-chan.” Nico grinned as she opened her gallery. “Nico is a good photographer, but it helps having a cute subject.”

The redhead’s blush began to match her hair as she returned to a normal sitting position.

“So,” The raven-haired girl stowed her phone before motioning toward the cake, “do you want a slice?”

“Yes, please.” Maki nodded.

Cutting the cake with a plastic knife was not exactly optimal, but Nico made the best of what she had available and carved out a serving for both the birthday girl and herself.

“Here you go, Maki-chan.” She handed over the first piece.

“Thank you, Nico-chan.” Maki replied with the warmest smile Nico had seen since arriving last night.

As Maki was enjoying her first few bites, Nico dug into her bag for… Oh, no… Apparently, in her haste to get over here, she had forgotten one of the most important things; her gift for Maki. Nico glanced quickly over at the other girl whose attention was focused solely on her second bite of cake. Maybe, if Nico didn’t say anything, Maki wouldn’t notice? No. Nico immediately dismissed the idea. Maki had been abnormally honest over the last dozen hours, so Nico should follow suit.

“Uhm… I’m sorry, Maki-chan…”

“Hmm?” Maki looked over with her hand still in motion with a forkful of cake. Unfortunately, her dulled reflexes were unable to redirect completely, causing her to miss by about a centimeter, smearing frosting from there on her cheek to the edge of her mouth.

Nico snorted out a chuckle.

“Mmmph…” Maki glared as she pushed the stray frosting into her mouth with her finger.

“Sorry, sorry…” Nico repeated, trying to hold back more laughter. “Anyway, I really am sorry, though, because it looks like I forgot to bring your present.”

“My present?”

“Yeah… sorry…”

“It’s alright, Nico-chan.” Maki assured. “You’ve already done a lot for me since yesterday and I don’t think I could thank you enough.”

Nico smiled at the sincerity of the other girl. “You know I’m happy to help.”

“I know.” Maki nodded. “And thanks to you, I’m actually having a pretty good birthday.”

“Belated.”

“Belated, yes,” Maki agreed with a slight shrug “but, it still means a lot to me. So, thank you, Nico-chan.”

“You’re welcome, Maki-chan.” Nico returned to her position. “I suppose I will just have to give you your present at the party later.”

“That’s fine.”

“Or… earlier, if you want to come over sometime before… I could make more spaghetti.”

Maki smiled. “I’d like that.”

“Alright.” Nico returned a smile of her own before digging into her portion of the cake.

The two ate their dessert in a comfortable silence. Afterward, Nico once again cleaned up while Maki moved their books back into place.

“You just want to go right back into studying, don’t you.” Nico sighed, as she closed the fridge door.

“I didn’t get to finish what I was showing you earlier.” Maki replied simply.

“I suppose…” Nico moved back to the table. “What?” She asked when noticing the questioning expression on the other girl’s face.

“Uhm… weren’t you over here before?” Maki motioned to the area next to her.

“Well, yeah, but…” Oh, why are you questioning it, Nico? Maki-chan wants you to sit next to her again! Just do it! “Never mind.” Nico shook her head and sat down where Maki had indicated. “This is fine.”

“Right, so, where were we?” Maki searched the paperwork in front of them. “Ah, yes…”

Unlike the last time, Nico paid closer attention to her younger tutor’s explanations. After a little while, she felt like she was getting the hang of things, so Maki let her try a few problems on her own. However, it didn’t take long before she came across something new that she couldn’t quite grasp.

“Say, Maki-chan, what’s this?” Nico pointed to something in her book.

“…”

“Maki-chan?”

Still no response, but a moment later, Nico felt the other girl lean against her. She craned her neck to get a better view and immediately noticed that Maki’s eyes were closed. Well, so much for this tutoring session. At least Maki was leaning against her left side so she could still use her right hand to continue working. Nico knew she would get bored of studying on her own after a while and would eventually want to get up, but she was more than happy to let Maki rest for now.

“Have a good nap, Maki-chan.” Nico murmured before going back to work.

Author’s Note Continued: Geh... I kept typing “the couple” or something similar every time I found myself referring to both girls at the same time, but they’re not dating yet at this point in the timeline. Probably didn’t help that the scene is about them doing a morningful of everyday things in a relaxed and comfortable way as though they were a couple that was familiar enough with one another to behave this way. But that is kind of one the points that I want to emphasize in at least some scenes leading up to them actually dating; that they practically were beforehand.

On another note, I am not completely satisfied with some of the transitions in this scene. I had a lot of key points I wanted to get to and for the most part, I think those are fine, but I feel like some of the threads I used to connect them could be better. As such, I may come back to this scene at some point.

And I still need to retcon those other scenes...

[hxnamaru]

Can you please make a scenario for Kotori where she spends her birthday with Muse and her s/o? Thank you! :D

sorry for my writing, I’m currently trying to fix my rustiness. This idea is so cute though, I’m so sorry I got to it 8 months late. ((´д｀)) // (written in you perspective)

“Guys, is the cheesecake here yet?!” you said.

“Don’t worry, __, it got here a few minutes ago.” Eli suddenly said, coming from out of nowhere. Or you just weren’t paying attention. It was probably the latter.

You see, this was one of the most hectic days in the whole year - your girlfriend’s birthday. You had to make it perfect, since she’s always been the best girlfriend you could ever hope for. Sweet, caring, calm, responsible…she was just perfect. So, in order to pay her back for all the good she’s done for you, you just had to make this party special.

Along with the other 8 girls of µ’s, you were currently at the birthday girl’s house while she was out with her mother (probably getting some birthday sweets). You had all pitched in to get cute decorations, a huge cheesecake, and your own small presents for Kotori.

“All right, she’s arriving now! Everyone get in position!” Umi shouted, signalling for everyone to get to their respective places.

“WHAT? ALREADY?!” Honoka shouted back at her, obviously surprised at how time passed to quickly.

“Shh, just hide!” Maki whisper-screamed back at her.

At that moment, everyone was in their hiding positions waiting for the µ’s designer to arrive.

As they all heard the sounds of a door being unlocked and footsteps coming in, they knew they had to get into action, and fast.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY KOTORI!” Everyone shouted at the top of their lungs, scaring the poor girl so much she instinctively hid behind her mother. She recovered a second later, only to be close to crying from how happy she was.

“You guys…” She started off with a weak voice, “You really didn’t have to do this…”

“What are you talking about? Of course we had to! What kind of idol group would we be if we didn’t do this for our friends?” Nico said, earning a nod from everybody in the room.

“Nico-chan’s right, Kotori-chan. We wanted to do this to show how much we appreciate you, but more importantly how much we love you.” Hanayo said, with a blush on her cheeks due to the embarrassment of saying it.

“Yeah!” Rin agreed.

“Although it was __’s idea.” Nozomi said, sending a smirk your way.

“W-well, yeah…I wanted to show much I loved you.” You said with a heavy blush, since you just admitted your feelings for her for about the 100th time.

“Thank you __, everyone, I’m so happy right now!” Kotori said, with her tears now pouring out from her amber eyes.

[oumiyuki]

Happy maker!

Summary: August 3rd is a very, very special day. So special, that Honoka couldn’t keep her excitement down for a week after she came up with the best plan to spread the joy and love she felt with all her friends.

Pairing: Nope, not pairing. Muse is a group of tight-knit friends here. :'D 

Genre: Friendship and Family

Author Notes It’s midnight. 2am? And I finished scouting for our dear Honoka~ in SIF! *O* 400+ loveca stones!! And I managed to get 2URs and 5SSRs! Ahh~~! Honoka is so~~ cute~~! Ahem! X’P Sorry ‘bout that. Happy Birthday, Honoka! :’D May everyone enjoy and smile~! *W*

Honoka woke with a smile on her face, and that's perfectly acceptable since today is a special day. But she woke before her alarm clock sounded, that brought a whole new sense of accomplishment in the gingerhead's life.

"Woah! I can totally brag about this to Umi-chan and Kotori-chan later!"

Waking before her alarm was one thing, having plans that she's going to carry through all on her own, without any form of assistance by her childhood friends or family is another positive and possibly shocking difference for this special day.

Ah, but I think Umi-chan will be mean and just say: "Honoka, this is something you should be doing everyday."

Honoka pouted for a second.

At least Kotori-chan will praise me! Something like: "That's amazing, Honoka-chan! I'm so proud of you!"

Honoka laughed happily as she thought of how her childhood friends will react when she told them she woke before the alarm rang.

Kicking the blankets off with excess enthusiasm, Honoka wore her wide smile from her bed, to the closet, to the bathroom and back.

Donned in her school uniform, she gave her red bowtie a strong pull to tighten it, the gingerhead giggles to herself.

"Today is going to be so fun!"

And the more-energetic-than-she-would-be-on-normal-days gingerhead bounded out of her room towards the kitchen fridge.

"Good~ Morning~ cake!"

Honoka flashed a blinding smile to the cake she practiced many a times to bake before it was a success, and was currently sitting in the fridge for her to take.

"It's time for a walk, cake-san~"

The eldest daughter of the Kousaka house chuckled as she carefully pulled the cake out and into a neat cake box with green heart shape patterns.

I sure hope she likes it! And I made sure it's edible too! Hehe~

Honoka ran up and down the stairs to her room and around the house to grab all that she have been preparing for a week; all for this special day.

"Yosh~! I double, triple, checked this five times already! I most probably, shouldn't have- definitely have all that I need!"

Honoka had her hands to her hips as she nodded proudly at the stuff she needed to carry to school, not forgetting her school bag.

At the sounds of footsteps she knew belonged to her younger sister, Honoka spun around and ran up the stairs once again.

"Yukiho~~!"

Yukiho's alertness skyrocketed as she blinked up to a smiling widely older sister running at her with her arms spread apart – probably for a hug.

"O-Onee-chan?! Mm-"

The excitable ginger engulfed her younger sister in a warm, tight hug, slamming some air out of the younger Kousaka too.

"Good morning, Yukiho! I love you!"

Honoka pecked a kiss to her younger sister's pink cheeks before Yukiho could recover.

"Eh? Um...I love you too..?"

Yukiho barely managed a reply after returning a squeeze to her older sister's bone-crushing hug, and said older sister was zooming down the stairs again.

The young redhead wore a lopsided smile as she heard her older sister's loud and energetic voice from downstairs; a huge smile the gingerhead is definitely sharing with her parents too.

"Onee-chan, happy birthday." Yukiho whispered; knowing it'll take awhile before she gets to see her older sister again today.

The moment Honoka spotted her mum and dad, she dashed and threw her arms around them.

"Good morning, okaa-san! Otou-san! I love you!"

A peck on her mother's cheek as Kousaka-mama giggled and rubbed warmly on her daughter's back, and another peck on her father's cheek as Kousaka-papa patted his daughter's head.

"We love you too, Honoka. Take care, okay?"

"I will! I'm off~!" Honoka shouted as she exited her home with all her prepared gifts, not staying to see her father shed happy, manly tears while her mother laughed heartily.

Honoka skipped down the streets to Otonokizaka Academy, that huge, upbeat grin becoming permanent on the gingerhead's face.

Spotting a head of long ash-grey and another with long dark blue hair, Honoka's grin became a full blown smile with her pearly whites gleaming as she sped up to catch her best friends.

"Ko~to~ri~chan~! U~mi~chan~! Good~ mor~ning~!"

Her two childhood friends stopped in their tracks and turned around, finding an orange haired high school student who had clearly over packed for the day, running over.

The stricter of the two was about to open her mouth to reprimand the gingerhead about many things, but didn't get a chance to begin as her jaw dropped from the lines spouted from the gingerhead next.

"Kotori-chan~ I love you!"

Honoka had jumped the ash-grey haired girl the moment she was in glomping distance, eliciting a surprised yelp from Kotori. Honoka only proceeded to rub her cheeks on her childhood friend's soft, rosy cheeks, making Kotori giggle and return the hug.

The reciprocal hug only lasted a second as Honoka's love declaration not only froze one, but two of her childhood friends.

"Eh?" Kotori managed after some time.

Honoka pulls away from the hug, leaving her hands on the surprised ash-brunette's shoulder, beaming happily like nothing out of the ordinary happened.

"I've got something special for you today, Kotori-chan."

Honoka continued in her own pace as she reached for the bag she packed the cake in, before handing it over to the still too stun to react girl.

"I baked a cake for you. I hope you like it. Ehehe~" Honoka laughed sheepishly with a hand rubbing the back of her head after Kotori accepted her gift.

"Um..." Kotori didn't know what to say; though it seems like Honoka wasn't seeking for a response, as the gingerhead switched her attention to the bluenette who had frozen beside them.

"Umi-chan!"

Honoka easily hooked her arms around the archer's neck and pulled the bluenette into a tight, warm hug.

"I love you~" Honoka cooed loudly; repeating a similar rubbing of cheeks with the current childhood friend in her embrace.

"H-H-H-Honoka?!" Umi stuttered out.

Honoka giggled as she took a step back and pulled her gift for Umi – new archery gloves wrapped in an ocean blue gift paper covered with yellow stars.

"I know yours are quite worn from all your practicing daily, so I got you a new one! I even made sure it's your size, so don't worry!"

Umi blinked twice, accepted the gift, blinked another three times before she looked at the gift.

"But it's..?"

Umi was going to question why Honoka is giving out presents on her birthday, but her words fell short at the sight of the brightly smiling gingerhead. Is this the feeling of awestruck?

"Ah! I've got another six gifts to go, so. See ya in class!"

Honoka ran off into the school with her remaining bags (which was still a lot), leaving her two childhood friends to watch her go.

"Umi-chan, what just happened?" Kotori asked, her eyes not leaving where Honoka just ran off to.

"I think we just got presents from the birthday girl." Umi shook her head with a disbelief but happy grin.

Kotori giggles softly. "That's just like Honoka-chan. Always surprising us."

"Indeed."

Honoka figured that two of her seniors will be easily found in the student council room since they said they'll help out this morning, and so to the student council room the Leader of Muse went.

In all her excitement, Honoka forgot basic manners of knocking as she threw open the door, causing Eli to shout in surprise and Nozomi to raise both eyebrows.

Honoka was not one to be knocked off her momentum easily as she closed the doors loudly and ran up to the former Student Council President and engulfed the recovering blonde in a huge hug.

"Eli-chan~ Good morning-I love you!"

"Ehh?! Honoka?!" Eli was wide eyed and was holding onto the desk so as to not fall out of her chair due to Honoka's powerful hugging or from the consecutive shocks she had received in a span of two minutes since the Leader of Muse has arrived.

"Elichi, I didn't think you would..." Nozomi who already recovered from the initial surprise teased.

"What?! No, Nozomi!" Eli was exasperated.

Nozomi and Honoka chuckled at the same time, while Honoka moved herself back to a proper standing position to grab her gift for Muse's dance instructor.

"Dear Eli-chan!" Honoka started with a too familiar, playful smile.

"Please don't start this, Honoka..." Eli rubbed a hand to her temple, though a bemused smile played on her lips.

Honoka giggled once more before holding her gift box out to Eli.

"This is for you."

"For me?" Eli couldn't think of a reason she should be receiving any gifts today, especially not from the girl they were going to give gifts to.

"Yup. I'm 100% sure that you'll love them!"

Honoka knew how in love her senior was with chocolate; so she went out of her way to find out which was the most well-known and praised to be really delicious before she bought them, and got them beautifully wrapped in brown gift paper and a golden ribbon.

Eli was going to ask why or what the present is for, but the gingerhead already started for the purplenette who lowered her crossed arms, readying for a hug; which she received.

"Nozomi-chan, I love you!"

Nozomi giggled and pulled her junior in for a tighter hug; because she likes how warm Honoka felt, and also because she didn't want Honoka to see how much she was blushing.

"Where are these pleasant surprises coming from, Honoka-chan?" Nozomi queried when Honoka wriggled out of the embrace to fetch her gift for the Spiritual Mother of Muse.

"Because today is a special day!" Honoka answered with a ginormous smile, handing her gift over simultaneously.

"It sure is~" Nozomi grinned as she took the gift from Honoka into her hands.

"I, er...know that Nozomi-chan is usually really lucky already, but... this is...more than just a lucky charm. It's to protect and bless you all round!"

Honoka fidgeted with the hem of her skirt, slightly nervous that Nozomi might find her gift kind of overly simple- it could be seen as just a fortune slip after all.

Nozomi smiled sweetly at Honoka being nervous as she brought the precious paper close to her chest.

"I love it, Honoka-chan. And I'll treasure it even after I pass on." Nozomi winked.

"Mou... Nozomi-chan..."

Honoka pouted for a moment before smiling again and bounded out the door.

"I've got more gifts to share. See you later!"

Nozomi and Eli both grinned at the shut door which the bubbly gingerhead left from.

"Are you going to eat them now, Elichi~?"

Eli shook her head, smiling.

"Nozomi, how do you even know it's food?"

Nozomi chuckles. "Intuition."

Eli gets off the chair and walked over to the mini fridge in the student council room, and placed her gift inside.

"We'll share it with everyone later."

Nozomi grinned wider as she joined Eli at the desk to finish up the miscellaneous paperwork.

The next viable location would have been the first year classroom to catch all the first years, but Honoka's gut was telling her to go to the music room instead.

As she was getting closer, melodic piano notes reached her ears and she couldn't help but smile even wider than before.

Honoka stops just outside the music room to wait for the redhead to finish playing, and when she did, Honoka clapped – loudly and enthusiastically.

"Vuee?!" Maki looked up alarmed. "Honoka?!"

Honoka beamed as she entered the music room and walked inside.

"Maki-chan really plays the best music!"

"Wh-What are you saying, Honoka?" Maki turns away and started twirling her hair out of a nervous habit.

Honoka chuckled and sat herself beside the pianist.

"Maki-chan."

Maki wanted to remark that she didn't give Honoka permission to sit beside her, but stopped when Honoka said her name so gently.

"What is it?"

Honoka pulled out her gift for Maki.

"I got this for you. I hope you like it. It's, er... I wish for Maki-chan to keep doing what she loves!"

"Vue? A gift for me..?" Maki stopped twirling her hair to take the rectangular gift, wrapped in pink and red gift paper and a lot of smiley and musical notes.

Honoka grinned happily when Maki's lips pulled into a smile, and the inevitable hug reaches the unsuspecting redhead.

"Maki-chan~ I love you!"

"H-Honoka?!"

Maki toppled backwards on the bench while Honoka just laughed.

"See you later, Maki-chan~"

Honoka gave a final squeeze and smile to the flustered redhead before she ran off.

Maki stared at the ceiling as she collected herself.

"How is it that even on your birthday, when I was going to do something special for you, it's you who beat me to it?"

Maki propped herself up and smiled at her gift.

"It's probably something stupid... And probably something I'll like..." Maki placed a hand on her gift, her grateful smile still lingering.

Honoka pulled the first year classroom's sliding door open with a resounding slam, startling the students inside.

"Rin-chan! Hanayo-chan!" Honoka called loudly as she made eye contact with her two friends. "Come outside!"

Rin didn't see a need to question why as she ran outside, while Hanayo apologized to her classmates before following behind her bestfriend.

The moment Rin stepped outside, she was pulled into a hug by Honoka.

"Rin-chan, I love you!"

Hanayo shrieked in surprise as she shut the door tightly, and Rin laughed heartily.

"I love you too, Honoka-chan, nya!"

Honoka laughed along as she got Rin's gift out.

"This is for you, Rin-chan!"

"Wahh!" Rin cried out as she took the book of vouchers. "Ramen?! Voucher?! Nya?!"

"That's right!" Honoka smiled widely, proud of her own capabilities to make her friends so happy; she knew collecting a whole lot of free Ramen vouchers for the ramen-loving-cat girl is a brilliant idea.

"Thank you, Honoka-chan, nya~" Rin glomped Honoka once more, as the two of them laughed happily.

"Um..." Hanayo stared at the two gingerheads nervously.

Honoka untangles herself from her junior's hug to give Hanayo one.

"Eh? Eh? H-Honoka-chan?"

Hanayo stammers in surprise, not sure what to do but hug back.

"I love you, Hanayo-chan!"

"Ah..! I...I love you too, Honoka-chan!" Hanayo tightens her hug on her close friend.

Honoka chuckles as she pulls away. "I'm glad you do! This is for you, Hanayo-chan."

Honoka lifts a heavy looking bag over to the timid girl.

"A-A gift?"

"Yup! It's top grade." Honoka winks as she passed the gift over to Hanayo.

"Ah!" Hanayo almost drops the gift. "I-It's heavy!"

"It's your favourite!" Honoka chuckles and waves to the two first year before running off again; one final gift to give.

"How heavy is it, Kayo-chin?" Rin hopped over to assist her best friend, surprised by the weight.

"I think Honoka-chan got me top-grade rice...But..."

"But?" Rin blinked in wait, wondering what was wrong.

"How was Honoka-chan able to run over so quickly with a 2kg bag rice, and who knows what other things she had!?"

Hanayo exclaimed with disbelief. Rin laughed.

"Hm~ Only one place Nico-chan will be!" Honoka decides as she takes off towards the Idol Research Clubroom.

"Ni~co~chan~" Honoka chimed as she skipped into the clubroom.

Nico turns around from her chair at the computer, putting on a displeased look.

"What is it, Honoka? You're awfully loud this early."

"Ehehe~ It's cos' I'm happy!" Honoka beamed wider as she pulled the grumpy third year into a bone crushing hug.

"H-Hey! What are you doing?!" Nico struggled and tried to push Honoka away. "You're crushing me! Honoka!"

Nico wasn't pushing Honoka away because her bones were being squeezed though, she was just feeling embarrassed from the extremely warm hug and attention.

Honoka chuckles as she pulls away. "Sorry, I didn't mean to crush you."

Nico sighs and quickly looks away to hide her reddened face. "It's fine. What do you want?"

Honoka was smiling broadly once again at the reminder. "I've got a gift for you!"

"Huh?! What are you saying? Today is when you receive gifts!" Nico huffed angrily.

"Ehehe~ I suppose. But I want to share the happiness of this special day. So I decided to give everyone gifts!" Honoka pulled out a 30 x 40cm collage board she made with Nico merchandise like pin badges or bookmarks, and snippets of magazines of Nico and Muse, a bunch of pictures she took of Nico, solo or with Muse and herself.

Nico was left speechless at the gift that obviously took more than a night to put together; indicating how Honoka's whim to give gifts on her own birthday was planned.

"I...hope you like it..." Honoka took a turn for shy, similarly with Nozomi, as she scuffled on her feet. "I kind of pasted a picture of me hugging you in the centre before I placed the other pictures... sorry if you find it embarrassing. Nico-chan could paste another picture if-"

Nico snatched the collage board from Honoka carefully, to stop the gingerhead from blabbering.

"Who said I don't like it? This is going to be hanging in my room from now on!" Nico declared, not bothering to hide the blush on her face anymore.

Honoka's confidence and happiness meter flew back to 110% at Nico's honest words. "I love you, Nico-chan." Honoka remembered to add before she left for her classroom.

"Love..?" Nico shook her head as she lifted the collage filled with love, effort and memories; Nico smiled at it.

"That idiot... It's your special day so let us make you happy instead."

.

.

.

Honoka is popular. Very popular; as expected of the girl who brought eight friends together to challenge something new and seemingly "a crazy idea" to save her school.

After the gingerhead gave her gifts to her cherished friends she loves oh-so-much, she was swamped by classmates, underclassmen, underclassmen and even teachers; each wanting to wish the bewildered Leader of Muse a happy birthday, and to give their gifts to her.

The school day passed with a whole lot of smiles, presents and well wishes (and some love confessions), Honoka was happy, happy but slightly exhausted.

The gingerhead walks out the school gates and releases a short breath of air.

"Hwah. Today sure was eventful! Exciting. And fun! Hehe~"

Honoka stretched towards the blue sky, in preparation to skip home-

"WAHH! N-Nozomi-chan!"

Honoka whined and shook in protest to break free from the purplenette's washi-washi hold.

Nozomi giggled. "Hm-hm~ You were wide open, Honoka-chan~"

"That doesn't mean you should..." Honoka couldn't quite bring herself to say the words 'grope me', and she trailed off, her face red from embarrassment, especially since her senior's hands are still on her breasts.

"I shouldn't what~? Mm, Honoka-chan~" Nozomi teased as she gave her captive's growing chest another squeeze, eliciting a whine from the gingerhead.

"Let me go, Nozomi-chan..."

Nozomi relented; she didn't mean to make Honoka cry, and a teary-eyed Honoka pouting at her was a bit too potent to even to the usually unfazed Spiritual Mother of Muse.

"Sorry 'bout that, Honoka-chan~ my mission is to bring you to my house actually~ not too much on the washi-washi~"

Nozomi grinned with her eyes closed to hide how flustered she was feeling from the very cute display Honoka was presenting.

"To Nozomi-chan's house?"

Honoka straightened her back and tilted her head to a side, not understanding why she needs to go to Nozomi's house.

"Yes, silly. For your birthday party." Nozomi started walking towards her house.

"Oh! Well, no one told me... or reminded me... was I informed?" Honoka jogged to catch up with Nozomi.

"There was a golden invitation letter in your locker, but was probably missed out, along with all your other gifts~"

"Eh?! Really? I'm sorry for not noticing!" Honoka was wide eyed, and couldn't believe she almost missed out on her own birthday party with her friends.

"Who knows~" Nozomi giggled suspiciously.

"Eh? What's that supposed to mean? Nozomi-chan~!" Honoka whined cutely for part way of the walk to Nozomi's house until she came to a conclusion that Nozomi was probably just joking with her about the golden envelope.

The moment Nozomi opens her front door; the two were met with happy chatter, mouth-watering aroma of Nico in the kitchen cooking and warm smiles of their friends.

"Wow~ This is too much! You guys didn't had to go so far for me..."

Honoka had pink tinting her cheeks as she took in the birthday decor setup in her senior's apartment – happy coloured balloons (red, orange, yellow) floating around or stuck to the walls, along side a happy birthday banner that was definitely designed and drawn by Muse's designer herself as she saw the all too familiar illustration of herself in the center, the rest of Muse located on different parts.

Nozomi's dining table was already filled with plates, bowls and trays of food; most definitely whipped up by Nico the number one cook, and desserts; high chance was single-handedly baked by Kotori yet again. Honoka didn't miss out on the rice balls though; no doubt that Hanayo played a part in that.

"Honoka-chan."

"Honoka."

Honoka was tearing up again for an entirely different reason; she was greatly touched by her friends efforts for her, and she quickly used the back of her hand to wipe the appearing tears when they called her name.

"We want to do this for you, Honoka." Eli emphasized the genuine desire to give Honoka an unforgettable and heartfelt birthday.

Watering ocean blue locked eyes with soft light blue, and Honoka felt tears incoming again; what did she do to deserve the attention of all these wonderful friends?

"I don't know what to say..."

Kotori approached Honoka with a handkerchief as she dabbed gently away her best friend's tears.

"You don't have to say anything, Honoka-chan."

"Thank you...Kotori-chan..." Honoka breathed strongly from her nose.

"Yeah, you can be thankful. But we are here wondering if this is enough, because of you trying to one-up us this morning, Honoka!"

Nico gestured at the entire house with mock anger; Nico is more than over the moon from Honoka's surprise gift, and is quite confident that the party they planned is flawless.

"I'm...sorry?" Honoka seeked forgiveness from the petite third year.

"You don't have to be. Sheesh. Stop crying and enjoy the party, okay? You have to finish all the food I cooked. And we have two cakes!"

Nico shook her head with a blissful smile.

"Eh? Two cakes?" Honoka composed herself and asked.

Kotori giggled and the gingerhead look over to her childhood friend for answers.

"I baked a strawberry shortcake for Honoka-chan's birthday. And you gave me a cheesecake this morning, Honoka-chan."

"Oh...Well, the cheesecake is meant for you, Kotori-chan." Honoka grinned at the blushing ash-brunette who shook her head.

"I want to share with everyone."

"Well! Everyone is eating all together anyways! Let's party!" Honoka cheered, and it didn't take long for the rest to join in.

.

"Wahh! Top grade rice really tastes different! From the texture, to the sweetness, to the stickiness..."

Hanayo begun a long speech as she gushed about the top grade rice Honoka gave her, and she asked Nico to use to cook for everyone.

Honoka chuckles as she took a bite of the rice ball Kotori offered to feed her; happy to have made Hanayo that happy.

.

Soon, they decide to bring the birthday cakes out to sing happy birthday to Honoka and eat some cake before they get too full.

"Hehe~ Having two birthday cakes feels really special!" Honoka giggles happily, she felt like poking the cakes to steal a taste, but Kotori was there to take the laughing gingerhead's pointer finger away before it touched the cake.

Maki clears her throat and silence followed as all eyes landed on the redhead; Maki twirled her hair out of habit.

"Honoka..."

Hesitant violet met excited and patient cerulean; Maki smiles, feeling more confident.

"I made a disc filled with me playing the piano since you say that you like my piano playing so much-"

"The best!" Honoka chimed with a broad smile.

"And...We got together to record a 'Happy Birthday' song for you, accompanied with my piano. Um, this is for you."

Maki quickly hit the play button before it got any more awkward, and everyone begun clapping as they sang 'Happy Birthday' to Honoka.

"Aww man. This is..This is..."

Honoka was so overwhelmed with emotions and feelings from the piano playing, the recording, and the actual live singing from her friends all around her, she felt like crying tears of joy again.

"Make a wish and blow the candles, Honoka."

Umi instructed in a soft, gentle and understanding tone, giving Honoka's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Honoka nodded and shut her eyes, bringing her hands together in a prayer as she made her wish.

"I wish to celebrate our birthdays together, year after year after year after year, forever! Even when we're white haired grandmas!"

Honoka opened her eyes and blew out the candles, her permanent smile widening.

"I love you all!" Honoka exclaimed, running around to give everyone heartfelt hugs once more.

.

"Hey, what's Umi's gift to Honoka?" Nico asks pointedly as she took a bite of the cheesecake Honoka baked, having already finished a slice of strawberry shortcake.

Umi looks over to an expectant Honoka, and the lyricist grins.

"My gift to Honoka is..."

"Is..?" Honoka's eyes sparkled in anticipation.

"To turn a blind eye to Honoka's slacking."

"Ehh~" Honoka whined.

"Once."

"Only once?!" Honoka couldn't take it as she shook Umi's shoulders in disbelief; the bluenette just laughed softly at Honoka's unimpressed face, and the rest laughed along, not expecting Umi's answer.

"What about you, Rin?"

Maki asked after lots of laughing.

Rin bounced to her feet, and ran to her bag and back to the birthday girl.

"I got Honoka-chan some cat ears!"

Honoka laughed and gladly accepted the cat-ears, apparently they were wired to be able to sense the user's emotions and the ears will move accordingly; such as droop if she's feeling sad.

"Aww~ These are really cute and fun! Thank you, Rin-chan!"

"Nya nya nya!" Rin exclaimed happily. "Rin will be Honoka-chan's pet cat for the rest of the party too~"

Rin rubbed her head against Honoka's thighs, eliciting a happy chortle from the gingerhead.

"I got a really adorable cat!" Honoka tickled Rin's chin as a show of appreciation which Rin purred happily to.

"How about Elichi~?" Nozomi grinned knowingly at the blonde, Eli shook her head as she beckoned for Honoka to go over to her.

"Eli-chan?"

"This is for you, Honoka. Take it as our graduation gift too."

Eli passes her green bowtie to Honoka; a memento of a third year, and student council president since it's from Eli.

Honoka fought the urge to be emotional again as she hastily removed her own red one to put Eli's green bowtie on.

"Now I'm everybody's senpai!" Honoka had her hand to her hips, expecting someone to play along, but no one addressed her by 'Honoka-senpai', instead the room was filled with happy laughter yet again.

Honoka pouted for a moment before joining in the laughing. This is how Muse is after all – no senpai-kouhai relationship; Muse is a family.

Honoka was gifted a smile filled, joy filled birthday spent with her family, and she couldn't wait for the next.

  Author Notes

:'D Happy Birthday Honoka. X'D

I hope everyone will keep loving Honoka, and enjoyed this story, and received the smiles Honoka and I wanted to share with everyone. *O*

Wow, it's 3am now. -chuckles- Time to dream of Honoka! X'D

Leave a comment if you like~ And keep~ smiling! X'D

[sunokasai]

HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY, CARUSO! :D

@icaruswings87 celebrated her birthday yesterday, so I tried to get her fic she won in the giveaway done. And.... here it is! :D

A huge thank you, @nozoroomie, who volunteered to be my beta.

Following is the prompt that Caruso sent in and that inspired the fic. I hope you’ll enjoy reading.

For the Giveaway! Nozoeli (of course) and I think that I want something from your Family AU if I win. I'm torn between 'finding time for ourselves' and 'the family celebrating Nozomi's birthday/Mother's day'. Basically it would be Eli rallying the kids and somehow keeping them quiet about a big surprise for Nozomi and then once that is done giving the parfait gays a nice scene where Eli surprises her with a special date. It's pretty gay, but I'm sure you won't mind LMAO. Congrats on followers!

“Aren‘t they ready yet?“ Nico looks out of her room and towards her parents bedroom, Rin and Honoka right behind her. Across from her Hanayo and Kotori do the same out of their own room.

“Act normal, we don‘t want them to get suspicious.” Maki says, walking down the hallway to gently push her siblings back in their rooms. “Come out once they call for you.”

While Hanayo and Kotori retreat back and close the door the triplets pout.

“But we wanna see how mama and mom look.” Honoka peeks around the corner once more just to be picked up by Maki on the collar of her shirt.

“You’ll see them in the living room. You know they’d never go without checking on all of us first.” She is getting annoyed but can’t blame her siblings to be curious. If she recalls correctly they have never seen her parents dressing up beforehand.

Walking towards the door Maki looks towards the living room. “Umi?” She calls of her sister as silent as possible, careful not to get her parents attention.

“What is it?” Blue hair appears in the doorway as Umi sends her a questioning gaze.

“Can you handle stuff alone until mama and mom call us together? I am not sure the triplets will behave so I want to stay here.” There is protest from behind but Maki pays no mind as she sends Nico, Rin and Honoka a glare that says “We all know you won’t be able to hold still.” and the triplets get quiet almost instantly.

Umi seems to think about it for a while before she nods. “I’ll manage, don’t worry. Tell the triplets they have to deal with me if they screw everything up.”

Apparently, the triplets hear her because they tense up and look up at Maki helplessly. The redhead just smirks, thanking her older sister for the help. Now she is sure the triplets won’t cause any problems.

Meanwhile Umi continues to make the first preparations by hiding all the stuff they need later in cupboards and behind the sofa. It isn’t much but with stuff close by they will be able to save some times.

She barely manages to do so when she hears a door, undoubtedly the door to her parent’s bedroom, opening and a soft giggle drawing nearer. In a speed faster than light Umi stuffs the last bits under a cushion, takes her book and tries to act as normal as possible.

“Umi-chan is the only one in the living-room? I was sure I heard Nicochi and Maki-chan a couple minutes earlier.” Umi’s ears perk up as she hears her mama and looks up. The moment Nozomi turns around to look at her eldest Umi’s jaw drops and she is left speechless.

Nozomi wears a beautiful light blue dress, the skirt ending right above her knees. There is a bow around her waist with a beautiful ornament shaped like a rose, complimenting her waistline perfectly. Her hair is braided above her left shoulder, fishtail-style.

She doesn’t know how long she stares at her mama, but when she recoils from someone flicking her forehead Umi finds herself face to face with Eli. “Mom?”

“If you staring is any indication you too think that your mama looks stunning, right?” Eli smirks and once Umi nods she turns around to flash Nozomi a brilliant smile. “See, I told you. You look beautiful.”

“Ok, I believe you.” Nozomi walks over and Eli straightens up again. She lets her hands ghost over the blonde’s shoulder ever so lightly as if to get rid of non-existing dust. “But I have to admit that you look quite handsome yourself with your black suit, dark purple shirt and tie. Am I right, Umi-chan?”

Nozomi smiles and Umi becomes beat red, trying to hide her face behind her book. Laughing lightly Eli and Nozomi let go of each other before the latter goes into their kitchen.

“Could you all come to the living room, please?” Eli calls for her other children while adjusting the sleeves of her suit. She hears the tiny footsteps hurrying their way into the living-room and the gasps the moment these steps come to a halt. She looks up to see the triplets with wide eyes and open mouths and giggles.

“Mom, is that nyou?!” Rin is the first one to regain the ability to speak and Eli thinks that if the triplets are already stunned by her simple attire they are down for a surprise once they see Nozomi.

“Yeah, Rin, it’s me.” Picking up her daughter Eli turns around just in time to see Nozomi exiting the kitchen. As if cue she hears the triplets, Hanayo and Kotori muttering a stunned “Wow”.

Nozomi spins around once for good measure before joining Eli, picking up Honoka and leaning forward to hug Hanayo and Kotori in a close hug. Nico takes Eli’s hand and Maki joins Umi on the couch, raising an eyebrow questioningly at the deep red shade that is still ghosting on her older sister’s features.  

“Well then… we are going to be late if we don’t leave now, Nozomi.” Eli says after glancing at the clock. She puts Rin back down and rustles Nico’s hair with some protest. “Umi, Maki, are you sure you’ll be able to handle this? We can still call Anju.” she says, addressing her eldest.

Before any of the two can answer though, Nozomi hugs Eli from behind, having let go of the others. “You worry too much. Everything will be alright. Umi-chan and Maki-chan know what they are doing.”

“If you say so...” There is still doubt and worry lingering in Eli’s voice.

“Mom, we’ll be okay.” Maki and Umi stand up, moving towards front door to get their jackets. They hand them over and practically start shoving their parents out the door.

“Have a nice evening, just the two of you.” Maki says and Eli reluctantly puts on her jacket and takes the keys out of Umi’s hand.

Nozomi is already out the door, smiling while patiently waiting for the worrywart that is Eli to follow her.

“We are on our way. Be nice to each other and if I see anything out of place or missing prepare for interrogation.” With that Eli closes the door.

The siblings wait with bated breaths for five whole minutes, neither of them moving a muscle. Once they are sure that they are safe Umi pulls out a roll of wrapping paper from within the umbrella stand, facing the door. “Let’s get to work.”

A couple days prior Eli had reserved two places in their favorite restaurant without telling Nozomi. Eli wants the whole evening to be a surprise, so when the blonde stops in front of the place where Eli had started the date night that would lead to their engagement a couple years prior Nozomi embraces her wife tightly before kissing her.

Inside the waiter leads them to a very familiar table and Nozomi smiles a little teary. “Isn’t this the same table we had back then, too, Elichi?”

“It is.” Eli says simply while helping Nozomi taking of her jacket. Like the gentleman that she is she pulls the chair back a little for Nozomi to sit down before getting ready herself. “I thought that might be a beautiful start to our evening.”

“It certainly is.” Nozomi stretches out her hand for Eli to take it, interlacing their fingers. “How long has it been since we had some time for us alone?”

“The last time was before we took in the triplets.” Eli gently brushes her thumb over Nozomi’s hand, thinking. “But going out on a date like this? I think Hanayo hadn’t been born.”

“So at least 7 years ago.”

Their conversations is interrupted by the waiter bringing them the menu. The next couple of minutes are spent in silence with the two of them just gazing lovingly at each other. Eli notices how Nozomi’s eyes seem to sparkle in the dim light of the restaurant and paired with that beautiful smile, Eli feels she’s 16 all over again, slowly falling for the girl that would become her wife.

Nozomi seems to notice Eli’s thoughts drifting away and gently calls her out. “What are you thinking about, Elichi?”

“Just noticing that you are beautiful.”

A faint pink graces Nozomi’s cheeks as she looks to the side.

“Elichi is a charmer. I am not sure if I’ll survive this the whole evening.”

Eli laughs, an airy sound full of love.

“But it’s true. And I was reminded that it was your eyes and your smile that made me fall for you.”

“My eyes and my smile?” Reaching up to her face, Nozomi’s curious gaze meets Eli’s honest.

“Your eyes and your smile.” Eli confirms. “Before we got closer all I ever saw was mischief, be it in your eyes or that smirk that told me you were up to no good. But after that incident on the roof, when you told me about your parents and that you’d have to move again… for the first time I had seen something else in your eyes. Sadness and pain mostly. I thought it didn’t suit you. And then we started to spent more time together and little by little I discovered what these eyes and smile could also hold. How you looked at me, how you smiled at me… even without telling me I could see how much our time meant to you and how much you valued it and me. And before I realized it it was my goal to always make you smile like this, happily with your eyes sparkling.”

“Elichi...” Tears start to form in Nozomi’s eyes after Eli’s honest declaration and the pure love in the blonde’s eyes.

“I can’t believe I almost lost this due to my own stupidity.” Eli’s expression becomes sour as she remembers the incident.

Nozomi reaches forward to caress Eli’s cheeks, her expression gentle. “Yeah, you almost did. But we managed to solve this issue. We talked about it, over and over again. And now we are here, together and happy.”

“You’re right.” Eli lays her hand over Nozomi’s making sure to keep the contact on her cheeks.

For the moment no more words are needed.

“Honoka, I told you not to cut the paper on your own but to wait for Kotori to sketch in the lines!” Umi holds the wrapping paper above her head, out of Honoka’s reach.

“But the paper is so pretty. I wanted to put it all over the place.” The little girl pouts.

Umi sighs, her nerves already wearing thin. She starts to wonder if this is a good idea. “Honoka, we promised mom not to make a mess. So please gather all the paper to-”

Before she can finish her sentence though Nico slides in from the left, throwing confetti in the air that lands all over the place.

Umi feels her right eye twitching. “Nico...” Honoka already backs away, trying to hide behind Kotori who comes back a couple of second earlier with a ruler.

“Doesn’t this look cute? All the colors. I bet mama and mom will like it.”

“Uhm… Nico-chan?” Turning around to her fellow triplet, Nico sees Honoka pointing at Umi. Once she does she gupls.

Umi has a devilish look on her face as she buckles down to be on the same level as her younger sibling to pinch Nico’s cheeks. She faintly notices Kotori pulling at her shirt. “Umi-chan, don’t be too mad. ...please.”

It isn’t fair, Umi thinks, that Kotori is able to disarm her just by asking with her innocent voice. She let’s go of Nico who starts to rub her slightly red cheeks. “You and Honoka will tidy this mess up while Kotori and I start on the wrappings. Got it?”

But instead of nodding Nico’s eyes grow wide and she shakes her head in a fast pace. Umi’s brows furrow. “You don’t wan-”

“Nya!” From behind Rin jumps onto Umi’s back, pouring a small bucket with even more paper snippets and confetti over the blue haired girl.

Nico, Honoka and Kotori stand beside them, all of them eyes wide open and hands over their mouths. Rin just nuzzles into Umi’s back, ranting how she found even more paper to get all over the place.

That evening a scream tears through the neighborhood.

“Should we help them, Onee-chan?” Hanayo asks from her spot behind the door to the kitchen, watching the scene from around the edge.

Maki stands above her, arms wrapped around the little girl’s shoulder. “It’s better we do not get involved.” She says as she watches her older sister chasing the triplets around their home.

“Say, Elichi…?” Nozomi asks between two bites. The both of them finally have their food and enjoy it in silence, occasionally sparing a glance at each other or commenting on the food.

“What is it?”

“Don’t you think that Umi-chan and Maki-chan acted strange earlier?”

Eli looks up from her plate, meeting an amused Nozomi. “What do you mean?”

“It was as if they wanted to get rid of us, pushing us out of the door like that.” Nozomi giggles.

“Now that you mention it...” Furrowing her brows Eli enters full parent mode. “They aren’t up to something bad, are they? What if something happens?” Overprotective parent Eli.

Nozomi thinks it’s cute.

“Nothing bad. They know what today is, so maybe they plan on doing something?”

“I hope they don’t overdo it. Or make a mess out of our home…” Eli says, half imagining the chaos the kids could possibly cause.

Nozomi’s giggles pull her out of her imaginations. “You worry way too much. But that only proves that you are an amazing parent.”

“I can’t help it. I don’t want them to get into trouble.” Eli says truthfully.

“Don’t you trust Umi-chan an Maki-chan?”

Answering this question doesn’t take Eli long.

“I do, wholeheartedly. They remind me a lot of myself when I was their age. I had to take care of Alisa a lot, so I grew up faster than others my age.”

“Well, they always help us with Kotori, Hanayo and the triplets. So I guess the same can be applied to them.” Her last words are almost whispered, but Eli catches them nonetheless, looking at Nozomi worried.

“What is it, Nozomi?”  

“Just thinking that I was totally different. My parents left for work early in the morning and returned late at night. There was no one I had to take care of other than myself. And well, I didn’t really care about me, so I goofed around a lot.” Nozomi explains, looking wistfully into the distance.

Eli takes her one hand, moving her thumb over Nozomi’s knuckles in a slow rhythm.

“That’s not bad either. Somehow… that’s what caused us to meet. And we both know how that turned out.” She smirks, one of her charming ones that never fails to make Nozomi smile in return.

“Is Umi-nee still chasing after Rin-chan, Nico-chan and Honoka-chan?” Hanayo asks, sitting at the kitchen table.

Maki slides back with her chair to peer through the half-opened door. Kotori still sits at the table in the living-room, cutting the paper carefully with a smile on her face. She obviously enjoys what she’s doing. There’s no trace of the other four, though, but Maki is sure she heard footsteps throughout their home.

“I guess she is. But I am pretty sure it turned to a game of Hide and Seek by now...”

Maki returns to her previous position at the table and continues to peel various fruits while Hanayo cuts them into tiny pieces. The both of them have cooked some rice earlier that is currently cooling down. Thanks to Anju they have an easy recipe for muesli made out of rice. They intend to serve it in the morning as a surprise for their parents.

They work like this for a couple more minutes before Maki hears tiny footsteps near the door to the kitchen. She stands up and walks towards the door, waiting till a small figure with orange hair passes her by.

She opens the door and grabs Rin by the collar, gently pulling her backwards into the kitchen. The energetic girl yelps in surprise but any protest dies an early death when she is picked up underneath her arms and placed on a chair by the table. Hanayo smiles at her and gives her a sliced apple.

Maki stays behind her and takes the apple, putting down a small cutting board before Rin. “You have two options: Being caught by Umi-nee because we both know that will happen soon or you redeem yourself my helping me and Hanayo with our breakfast.”

Rin looks up at Maki who looks down at her younger sibling with raised eyebrows. “What do I have to do, nya?”

Maki smiles.

“Okay, look.” She takes the apple and shows Rin to cut them into small pieces. Once she is sure that Rin will manage she sits back down and continues peeling.

“Maki-neechan, Hanayo-neechan?” Maki looks up to look at Rin. “Sorry for all the trouble. I love you.”

Both Maki and Hanayo smile before they reach over to ruffle Rin’s hair.

“We love you, too.”

“Nico, Honoka, Rin! Give up, I’ll find you soon enough.” With each step she takes there is another piece of paper falling out of Umi’s hair. That doesn’t exactly help her calming down.

She takes a break in the middle of the hallway to pull out some pieces when she hears a creaking sound in her very own bedroom. Umi squints her eyes, not believing that they would dare to hide there. Everyone knows that they need to ask Maki and Umi first.

She approaches the door and opens it by pushing once, standing still in the door frame.

“You know the rule… prepare yourselves.”

Umi looks all over the place, noticing her bed sheets being out of place and the corner of her blanket being pulled underneath her bed. So she crouches down to look under her bed and is greeted by Honoka, sheepishly waving at her.

“Get out. Now.” Umi says, glaring at her younger sister.

Honoka does as she is told and takes Umi’s outstretched hand. Together they go back to the living-room where Umi motions for Honoka to sit down beside Kotori. The ashen haired girl pulls her younger sister into a hug while Umi still looks down on them. “While I keep looking for Nico and Rin you will start to clean up. We don’t want mom to get a heart attack when she returns.”

Honoka nods and Umi continues to look for the last of her two siblings. She walks towards the kitchen to tell Maki to keep an eye on Honoka. But once she opens the door she is greeted by Rin, Hanayo and Maki preparing the fruits. “Rin is here?”

Maki turns around briefly before she keeps peeling the apple in her hand. “When she tried to hide she walked past the kitchen. That’s when I grabbed her.”

Rin flashes her a catlike grin and Umi sighs. At least that means there is only one person left. She thinks she might know where to look for Nico. So she makes her way towards her mama’s office whose door is indeed slightly open. Her mama always close it.

Instead of going inside Umi stays outside.

“Nico? Come on out. We need to get things ready before mama and mom return. You want them to have a nice evening, right?”

She hears a door opening, probably to one of the shelves inside. Soon after Nico exits the room and closes is tightly again. The raven haired girl turns to her older sister.

“Sorry. I won’t play around again.”

Umi sighs and holds her hand out for Nico to take it. Together they get back to the living room.

“I didn’t say you aren’t allowed to have fun. I just want you to think a little and not to cause chaos.”

Soon after Honoka and Nico finish cleaning up while Kotori and Umi keep preparing the paper.

“This is so beautiful.” Nozomi says as she allows herself to melt into Eli’s embrace.

After they had finished eating Eli had taken Nozomi by the hand to walk with her through Tokyo. They had taken the Tokyo Metro Namboku Line until Komagome Station. At that time Nozomi got a vague idea what Eli was up to.

Nonetheless she’s surprised when the beautiful sight of the Rikugien Gardens greet her. Now they just stand there in each others embrace, enjoying the evening for a little while longer before they have to return home.

Feeling the arms around her waist loosening up Nozomi turns around to meet Eli’s beautiful blue eyes. It’s quite all around them so she seizes the moment and leans forward, Eli meeting her halfway in a slow but all the more loving kiss.

Breaking apart Eli rests her forehead on Nozomi’s closing her eyes. “If I’d ask you again, here and now… would you still say ‘yes’?” Eli mumbles only for Nozomi to hear.

The purple haired woman knows. Ever since their fight that Eli constantly worries if they are still alright. They talked about it – what happened, what they thought about it – and Eli tried so hard with simple yet thoughtful gestures that Nozomi had forgiven her a while ago. But being the worrywart that is Eli, she should have known that the blonde still struggles.

So she tries to reassure her as best as possible now.

“Ask me a thousand times… my answer will never change.” Because Nozomi knows exactly why. “You were the only one who cared about me. Out of all the people it was you, the person who became the victim of all of my pranks. In the two months before I had to move again you had managed what no one had ever done in a year. You made me feel less alone and gave me the feeling that for once there would be someone remeberring me. And you did. Even better, you kept in touch. That was when I decided that I never wanted to lose you, and shortly after I realized that I loved you.” She tightens her hold around Eli’s neck. “So never let me go either.”

Eli smiles. “Never. That’s a promise.” She seals it with another kiss. “Happy Wedding Anniversary. I love you, Nozomi.”

It’s late when Nozomi and Eli return home. Some lights are still on so Nozomi nudges Eli in the side.

“I told you, they are up to something.” She says with a smile.

“Whatever it is, it better didn’t cause a chaos.” Eli sighs, already preparing herself for the sight of the leftovers of an explosion in the middle of their living room.

When they approach the door and Eli jiggles with the keys they hear whispers behind it and feet shuffling hurriedly. When it is completely quiet Eli dares to take a look at Nozomi to see her nodding with a smile. So she turns the key and opens the door, half awaiting something falling straight at her.

Eli is surprised when the hallway is just as neat as it had been when they left. Their jackets are still hung up and their shoes are placed in a perfect row. The only thing that is strange is the fact that the door to the living room is closed.

“Umi-chan? Maki-chan?” Beside her Nozomi calls for their eldest as she takes of her shoes, a knowing smile on her face that grows when no one replies. The lights were on, so someone has to be awake. Eli starts smiling, too.

The moment they enter the living room, though, they are beyond speechless. Placed neatly on the table in front of their sofa are seven gifts, wrapped up in dark blue, red, grey, green, orange, yellow and pink paper. A small banner is tied to their shelf and a broom stick that had been placed behind the sofa, reading “Happy Anniversary” in the neat writing that they recognize as Umi’s.

Before either of them can say anything a bunch of small people comes running towards them from the kitchen and in a blink of an eye they are surrounded by Kotori, Hanayo and the triplets all wishing them a happy anniversary.

Eli laughs and Nozomi has to rub her eyes to keep the tears from spilling. They each lift up one of the triplets, Eli takes Rin while Nozomi takes Nico, and they all go over to their big couch.

“So that’s what you guys were up to.” Eli says, still smiling brightly.

Rin’s face falls.

“You knew?”

This time it is Nozomi who laughs.

“Your big sisters weren’t exactly subtle.” She looks at Umi and Maki who still stand near the door to the kitchen. “I knew something was up the moment they proposed your mom and me having a date night.”

Maki and Umi blush a deep red and turn their heads away. Eli laughs.

“Yeah, putting it that way it sure is strange. Them proposing a date. And shoving us out of the door earlier didn’t help, either.”

Seeing the faces of their youngest falling upon failing on surprising them Nozomi quickly adds “But it’s still a surprise. We would have never guessed to come home to this.” She nods towards the gifts on the table. “And we love it. So thank you.”

Faces light up again and the triplets start snuggling up on Eli and Nozomi. Kotori and Hanayo lean their heads on their parents shoulders, by far the ones who show the most fatigue. It is late, after all.

“Open the gifts! Open the gifts!” If it weren’t for Eli holding Honoka close the girl would jump all over the place.

“Ok, ok. Maki? Could you hand me the….” Eli eyes the presents, knowing well which belonged to who thanks to the colors. “The green one?”

Hanayo’s face lights up even more as Eli carefully unwraps the box, careful not to destroy the wrapping. Once she opens the box she is greeted by two beautiful crafted origami swans. She carefully takes them out to show Nozomi who scoots closer, just as amazed as Eli.

“These are amazing, Hanayo-chan.”

“Now… where to put them?” Eli says, already scanning the room. When she finds a place she gives the swans to Umi and tells her where to put them. “I think that fits perfectly.” She nods, proud and Nozomi smiles. Two white swans are now framing their big family picture. Hanayo looks equally happy and proud and that is all Nozomi and Eli need.

“Ours next, nya!” Rin chimes in, trying to grab the orange, yellow and pink presents, but Maki beats her to it.

All three of them are cylinders, with a simple bow securing the wrapping paper. Once Nozomi and Eli take them of the paper unrolls and three pictures come in sight. What’s strange is the fact that none of them seem to be finished.

“They are supposed to be one piece.” Nico explains as she eagerly takes the picture out of Nozomi’s hand. “Like a puzzle!” The triplets then put the pictures together like they are supposed to.

With them being in the right order Eli and Nozomi see what the triplet’s intention was. Everyone had drawn three of them each, everyone holding hands. Now there were nine figures lined up on three pages, starting with Eli holding on to Honoka and Umi on the right picture that had been drawn by Honoka herself. The next picture shows Kotori, Rin and Hanayo, the legs being straight black lines evidence that Rin had made this. The last picture on the left shows Maki and Nico with Nozomi, the pinks and hearts being obviously Nico’s doing.

Nozomi tears up and hugs Nico, who sits on her lap, tight. The small girl circles her arms around her mama's neck.

“I love you, mama.”

“I love you, too, Nicochi.” Nozomi says, tears finally spilling.

Eli reaches over, stroking her wife's cheeks first and then petting Nico with Rin and Honoka in her embrace.

“And you, too, mom. I love you.” The raven haired girl whispers and Rin and Honoka join in.

Taking the pictures, Umi turns around. “I am going to pin those on our fridge.”

“Next mine.” Hesitantly, Kotori reaches over and takes the gray wrapped gift, handing it to Eli. “I hope you like it.” She shuffles with her feet and plays with the hem of her skirt, eyes looking to the ground.

“I am sure we'll like it, sweetie.” Eli moves a little and pats the place between Nozomi and Eli. Getting the hint, Kotori sits down on the sofa. Eli starts to pull of the paper. There is a small box again that she opens to reveal some sort of fabric, one blue, one purple. Unfolding them they see hearts and flowers neatly sewn into the material in bright colors. “Kotori, these are awesome.” Eli's breath catches in her throat.

Nozomi takes the fabric and looks at it herself.

“I think… someone has a talent for sewing.” She smiles and kisses Kotori at the top of her head. “Thank you, sweetie.”

Kotori beams at this, her feet happily bouncing up and down.

“I am glad.” Eli and Nozomi smile at each other.

Clearing her throat, Umi redirects the attention to her and Maki. “Now it's our turn. For that we ask you to open the two remaining gifts together.”

Doing like they are told, Eli and Nozomi open the remaining two boxes to reveal a sheet of music in the red wrapping and lyrics in the blue wrapping. “Aishiteru Banzai?” Eli says, reading the title on top of the music notes.

“The same title as the lyrics… wait? Could it be…?” Raising an eyebrow Nozomi looks up at her eldest to see them placing a speaker on the table, connected to Maki's phone. They smile and take a deep breath before Maki hits play.

A piano starts playing and after a few notes both Maki and Umi start singing.

“Cheers for the love!

I'm glad to be here, our present exists right here

Cheers for the love!

It's only just begun, I'm counting on you again tomorrow, we've yet to reach our goal.

Smile when you're sad, let's blow it all away If you can laugh, the scenery will change, peeking through the clearing weather Even when you're unsure, the road leading to happiness Comes into view under the blue sky

Rain falls from time to time but it's harsh without water Don't wither, nurture everyone's tree of dreams Now! Cheers for loving you! With the courage to never give up, let's enjoy the present Cheers for loving you! We can do our best so wave goodbye to yesterday and look forward”

By the end of the first verse everyone has gathered around Eli and Nozomi to look at the lyrics to sing along. The family sings together and when the music is fading Umi and Maki bow like professionals while their “audience” applauds them.

“That was so cool.” Honoka exclaims, looking at her older sisters with admiration. The attention causes Umi and Maki to blush though.

“Agreed. It was beautiful. But when did the two of you manage to create this?”asks Eli, genuinely curious.  

“At school.”

“It was amazing. Thank you, all of you. Really.” By now Nozomi can't stop the tears from flowing, which doesn't go unnoticed.

“Mama!” The youngest bunch climb and rush over to Nozomi who just opens her arms to hug them all before pulling them all backwards to lay on the sofa. Eli, Maki and Umi sit down beside them, smiling at the scene.

It is Nozomi who summarize the whole evening, short but simple and full of joy. “Thank you all for this beautiful idea. I love you.”